Fatherhood
by C.Watherston
Summary: "One night a father overheard his son pray: Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is. Later that night, the Father prayed, Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be"; thrust into responsibility, these are Harry's moments with Teddy.
1. The decisions we make

**AN: For the purposes of this particular story; post the Second Wizarding War (shall we call it that? Let us call it that), those students who should have sat their Seventh Year are, for most part, now more soldier than student, and this is taken into account by the Ministry of Magic. Those who plead their case to the Board may study a gap program and sit accelerated OWLS rather than study the full year. Harry and Ron sit the accelerated program in order to start work while Hermione, Ginny and Neville, among others, opt to sit the full year. **

Harry was sitting at the Burrow's long kitchen table with his head in his hands. Molly's sympathetic advice had been given and received with a cup of piping hot tea, but she'd had to go down to the Ministry with Arthur's lunch and left him to his thoughts.

Sighed heavily, he left his head from the cradle of his hands and rubbed the dark stubble of three days without a shave. Deep in thought, he linked his fingers together and leaned his chin on his hands, frowning.

Three days ago, he and Ron had completed their final exams. They'd all come back to the Burrow for a celebratory dinner and those of them who had opted to complete the full year at Hogwarts, rather than the gap course which he and Ron entered to, had gotten special permission from the Headmistress to attend. It had been the first time he'd seen Hermione laugh since she and Ron had arrived back from Australia without her parents. Andromeda Tonks had come too, with ten month old Teddy in tow. She looked, Harry realised now looking back, sick and tired, drawn to the point of grey. He hadn't noticed at the time because everything had been utterly, inescapably, brilliantly bloody fantastic; there he was, surrounded by friends, family, his amazing little godson, his girlfriend, his best mates, his adoptive family, good food, a clear night and plenty of drinking and laughing. It was as if he'd stepped back in time.

Then, when festivities began to die down, Andromeda had pulled him aside. An important conversation. The conversation that saw him sitting here at the Burrow, covered in dust and grime, desperate for some Molly Weasley Kitchen Table Advice.

Andromeda was not young, and since the deaths of her husband and daughter, it seemed as though the years had been conspiring against her. Harry felt an immense amount of guilt, sitting on the Burrow's patched couches across the coffee table from her. She looked haunted and worn out, even as she smiled at him. She'd given a nervous little laugh to try and break the sudden awkward silence and then just jumped right in.

She was tired, she said. She'd taken on the responsibility of her grandson under the impression that Harry, Teddy's godfather, would be taking over as soon as he was settled. Well it was ten months on and he was still living at the Burrow when he wasn't at Hogwarts or at the Auror Academy. She loved her grandson unconditionally, however, she pointed out that she was not prepared for full-time parenthood again. She wrung her hands nervously as she spoke, guilt on her face. He was such a spirited little boy and...

Finally, the bombshell. A once in a lifetime opportunity, she said. An cottage near a wizarding village in Berlin. A beautiful little place. Only...what to do with Teddy...

When Harry said nothing at first, Andromeda began to say she'd take Teddy, of course she'd take Teddy, of course it was far too much responsibility to ask such a young man to take on when he was just starting out, but Harry cut her off.

Thinking back, he had no idea what had forced those words to his mouth. Maybe it was the thought of Sirius, promising to take him in as soon as he could. Maybe it was his own childhood memories of the Cupboard under the Stairs. Maybe it was the chortling sound he could hear in the kitchen that could only belong to Teddy and the great debt he owed to Remus Lupin. Probably a mixture of all three. The point was, that this was the moment he would look back on for many years to come and he'd been damned if he'd look back and remember that he hesitated.

Teddy would be loved. He would be cared for. He would have everything in his childhood that Harry himself, and Lupin for that matter, missed out on.

"Well, I'll take him, won't I? I'm his godfather"

They'd both looked surprised. Now the words were out in the open, Harry had a frantic moment to consider them.

_Oh good bloody Godric, what the hell have I done? _

"Well...well, then, you, ah...where are you going to live?"

He thought about that in the blackness of the back of his eyelids during a blink.

"Grimmald Place. It's the only place I own, and we're redoing the safety spells over it probably next week when I move in. A bit of cleaning up, it'll be fine"

Well, if he wanted to be completely honest, the idea had been thrown between he and Ron over drinks at the Three Broomsticks a couple of weeks ago.

He tried to ignore the looks of horror on their faces as he dealt with the horror in his own heart. Raise a kid in that, that _place? _Sirius' _prison? _Wherever he was, he was sure at that moment his own godfather was cursing a blue streak at him. He struggled to keep his face polite and nonchalant, as if he had complete confidence in this plan of his.

"You're moving in?" exclaimed Andromeda. Harry swallowed, mind whirling.

"Well, yes. Hardly seems fair to ask Molly and Arthur to keep me on now I'll be at the Academy full time" he said offhandedly, leaning back as if it was completely casual. In reality he was leaning back to look into the kitchen, where a yawning Teddy was curled in Ginny's lap while she talked to Hermione and Molly. His heart stuttered; oh bloody hell, _Ginny! _

And Molly! They were going to have him for this.

"Well. Well then, it seems you've got it all sorted out, Harry. I...I-thank-you. If you need anything, anything at all for Teddy, any help, you don't hesitate to owl-" she stood and embraced the young man fiercely- "Nymphadora would have appreciated it"

Andromeda seemed to struggle with tears as she kissed Harry's cheek. He was shaking, hopefully not noticeably, as he saw her to the door. There was a flurry of good-byes from all in the kitchen and Ginny slid a whinging Teddy into Andromeda's arms. The tiny, currently bright red-haired, boy had his father's eyes exactly at the moment, and reached out suddenly to grasp Harry's finger. The Chosen One's heart stuttered devastatingly as he looked down at the child.

_His _child, he realised painfully, and bent his head to kiss the little boy's forehead.

"I'll come pick you up as soon as the renovations are done, Teddy" he whispered, for Andromeda as well as his godson to know.

Then they'd been gone, and Harry had been left with an absolute mess of his own doing in his lap. He'd had three days before he was due back at the Academy for training and threw himself into making Grimmald place child-friendly. It was almost as bad as making the damn place liveable. Ron, George, Luna and, of course, Kretcher, threw themselves into the dusty, cursed dump of a place with cheerful enthusiasm and insane loyalty. He fervently thanked his lucky stars for friends like his.

For two nights he fell onto a mattress on the ground floor with sated exhaustion, mind never fully rested when he rose with the sun the next morning, as it spent the night buzzing through lists and spells and plans and plots.

On the morning of his third and final day, George, Luna and Ron all had work. George at the shop and Ron at the Magical Law Enforcement Department. Not as an Auror, but as an assistant, working his way up to being a handler. Everyone had been quite surprised at his choice of career; Harry hadn't been. He'd played chess against him; underneath that red-head temper and his atrocious foot-in-mouth habit, Ron was a shrewd strategist. He could only hope he got landed with a handler half as good as his mate had the potential to be. Luna, of course, was needed at the Quibbler, which she had taken over from her father. It was still printing the usual insane content and Harry had a free copy with his owl-post every morning.

The point was that he was alone in the half-finished house reeking of cleaning products and dust. Every now and again there'd be a muffled thump as old Mrs Black tried to break the silencing spell Hermione had spent a whole afternoon placing over the portrait. Buckbeak the hippogriff was back at Hogwarts with a clean record, but the second floor still smelt of rats and faeces. There was a new coat of paint on the walls and most of the ceilings, carpet in four of the bedrooms, including what would become Teddy's nursery, and the kitchen had been completely redone. He could hear Kretcher banging about upstairs.

But it was missing something crucial. He didn't know what it was, but walking around, Harry felt awkwardly embarrassed. He was tempted to tear it all down and start again, as crazy as it sounded. Teddy would be arriving that night with Andromeda, who would be leaving for Germany part-way through next week. With a sinking feeling of drowning and being unable to swim, Harry had retreated to the Burrow in a panic.

Suddenly the door swung open to admit none other than Ginevra Weasley, her hair a flyaway spray of crimson fire, her cheek flushed from the darkening night outside, eyes bright, smile brighter still. He leapt to his feet and rushed across the kitchen to embrace her.

"Gin! What are you doing here?"

She laughed and shuffled them aside so Ron could squeeze past, toting his sister's trunk.

"Last time I checked it was her bloody house, Harry" he grumbled. Harry flushed and gave Ron a look, but Ginny laughed and pecked his lips to distract him. It always worked, that.

"Reconsidering my invasion of the bachelor pad so soon, Harry?" she asked sweetly, kissing him more firmly. Oh bloody Godric, her kisses _never _failed to wipe his mind.

"Huh?" he asked intelligently. Ginny laughed and he suddenly remembered;

_Mm; flowers, warmth, soft skin, hot lips on his jaw; could life get any better? _

_"You know, I'm still mad at you" she said, nipping at the spot she'd just been kissing. He tried very hard to look suitably chastened, but it was hard when he was all wrapped up in that golden bubble of bliss that Ginny always managed to conjure around him. _

_"Mmhm...hey, Gin, have you thought about moving in with me?" _

_She sat up straight, looking down at him with wide eyes, and he suddenly had the feeling he'd said the wrong thing, sitting up as well. _

_"To Grimmald place? With you and Teddy?" _

_Oh God, Teddy. He scuffed the back of his head. _

_"Well...yeah. I mean, I mean I'm not-not asking you to play mums-and-dads and that, you'd still get to concentrate on getting that spot in the Harpies, because that's bloody important...but, you know. Just make my place your base" _

_"Yeah?" _

_He swallowed, trying to read her guarded expression. _

_"Yeah?" he said tentatively. She looked thoughtful and took a deep breath. _

"_I...Harry, what if...I'm no good at it, you know? Trying to, help you, raise a kid?" _

_He kissed her sweetly, swallowing all her inhibitions. _

"_You'll be perfect, Gin" he assured her. Then she smiled and got that blazing look that he was so fond of on her, and everything got a little blurry after that. _

Harry was startled from his revelry by the end of Ginny's reply; "I'm just bringing a few things back from Hogwarts before exams...Harry, if you've got second thoughts-"

"He will not have bloody second thoughts" Ron corrected from down the hall. Harry grinned and took Ginny's hand as they walked down to meet Ron in the kitchen.

"Just because you're right doesn't mean you have to be so eager to get rid of me mate" Harry commented. The red-head made a face

"Just eager to get a decent night's sleep is all"

He always knew what buttons to press, Ron. It was something he had inherited from the twins. Harry's face turned redder than his girlfriend's hair and he muttered something suitable chaste but totally incomprehensible. Ginny, on the other hand, looked unabashed.

"That's rubbish, Ron. Ever since you caught us out in the meadow, he's been so bloody virtuous he should be in a damn monastery-" Harry looked horrified and Ron looked a little smug-

"Besides, it's not like you and Hermione ever remember"

The smug look was wiped off Ron's face and replaced with one of horror, an expression mirrored on Harry's face as he covered his eyes.

"Oh, Merlin, Gin, we promised never to speak of that" he groaned. More and more he'd come to see Hermione as his sister more than a friend, and hearing her moans through the thin walls of the Burrow that September night had very nearly made him turn a Memory Charm on himself. meanwhile, Ron was defending himself and his girlfriend.

"That was one bloody time!"

"Yeah, and once is enough thanks all the same. I've got to get going"

Harry had suddenly seen the time and his heart stopped. He'd been there for hours. Teddy was getting dropped off at any moment. He didn't see Ginny's look of alarm.

"Wh-wait, where?"

"Back to Grimma-home. Andromeda's dropping Teddy off any moment. I'll see you later; I'm dropping Teddy off here tomorrow morning before work"

He dropped his head to kiss her cheek and then soundly on the lips, ignoring Ron's retches in the background. She stared up at him with her huge blue eyes for a long moment, and then seemed to come to a decision.

"I'll come with you" she said firmly. And just like that, certainty rushed into Harry like a warm and soothing flood. He grinned appreciatively.

"Hang on, Gin, why are you going?" exclaimed Ron, looking surprised. A wave of guilt followed the confidence Ginny's statement had given him. He hadn't exactly gone to lengths to explain the deal he and Ginny had reached, laying in her bed on the night of his graduation; oh sure, Ron knew Ginny was moving in with him, but they'd never really spoken about the role she would play in his godson's life.

He must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights, because Ginny grabbed his arm with one hand and her coat with the other. The look she gave him said _now is not the time _and he spared a moment to marvel at how clearly they understood each other. Right now, he had to get to Grimmald place. He had to get home. He turned to Ron as she began to pull him out the door.

"We'll explain it all later, mate, I really gotta go-" he said fleetingly before being yanked breathlessly into Side-Along-Apparation. Standing at the front gate of Number 12, he caught his breath and glared as lovingly as he could at Ginny.

"I left my bloody Firebolt behind. You know I hate Apparating-"

She smirked and raised her eyebrows pointedly.

"Hullo Mrs Tonks" she said pleasantly behind him. He whirled, unsettling his glasses, and blushed again.

"Andromeda. Nice to see you. Come in. I just popped over to the Weasley-hey there Teddy!" he exclaimed, reaching for the boy deeply absorbed in the beads of Andromeda's necklace. He looked up excitedly at Harry's voice.

Suddenly, Harry hesitated, looking at Andromeda.

What. The bloody hell. Was he doing? He was nineteen, for God's sake! He didn't have a job. He would in about nine months unless, Salazar forbid, he failed the course, but it wasn't going to be all that high paying. That stack of money in Gringotts would only last so long.

Realistically, all he had was a house, and a run-down one at that, a little money and a history with the kid's parents. He bit his lip hard.

"Harry, take him. You're his father now" said Andromeda gently when the young man froze up, staring into the crystalline hazel eyes of the little boy. This was his preferred look; bright blue hair and his father's eyes exactly. Who knew how he managed to get the exact shade, tone and light of the past-werewolf's eyes so perfectly, knowing him as fleetingly as he had, but the small boy had it.

"Remus Lupin's his father" Harry whispered, the need to close his eyes as raw grief overwhelmed him for a moment too strong.

Remus Lupin; who told him about his parents, who taught him to cast his first Patronus, who had loved his mother, his father and his godfather, who had held him as he screamed for Sirius.

When he opened his eyes, Teddy was still looking at him, and appeared for all the world confused that his favourite person had not yet taken him for a cuddle. He stuck his hands out towards him pointedly.

"Up!" he ordered.

Nobody knew quite what to say in reply to either revelations.

From the corner of his eye, something above him caught his eye. It was a cloudy night, and this was London, but a sudden breeze had shifted both clouds and smog from a small wash of night sky. Among the small smattering of silver pinpricks on the velvet, one shone out. Harry caught his breath and suddenly took back everything he'd ever thought about higher powers and life beyond the grave. Because the single star that shone out in the normally obscured galaxy that night, at the moment he doubted himself, at the moment he questioned his ability to do this, was Sirius Major. For a heartbeat, it winked at him, and then was covered by cloud again.

Harry swallowed, squared his shoulders, and took a small step forward. Everyone bar Teddy was unwittingly holding their breath as he hesitatingly reached for the child. Immediately upon being held to his godfather's chest, Teddy chuckled and knocked Harry's glasses off. They all laughed, the tension broken, and Harry hoisted Teddy onto his shoulders while Ginny stooped, repaired the round wire-rimmed specs and replaced them on her boyfriends nose with a kiss. Harry looked faintly embarrassed when he caught Andromeda watching them and gestured inside.

"Let's go in, shall we?"

He glanced at the sky as he shut the door behind them.

_Thanks Sirius..._


	2. Daddy

Life for Harry and Teddy quickly settled into a strange kind of routine. Never in his life had he appreciated before the day-to-day struggles of a parent. He was at the Academy from six till four-thirty, and all hours in between were filled with Teddy. Ginny had missed out in the tryouts, but not on playing for a regional team; her sights were still firmly set on the Harpies. Changing diapers, chasing the active little Metamorphmagus all over the house, as well as moving onto making the upper floors habitable. Life at Number 12 was always busy; there was a two year old boy to contend with, Ginny's hectic training schedule, then sometimes Ron stayed over with Hermione, sometimes George dropped around, or Neville. Molly was a consistent presence, keeping their fridge well stocked with casseroles and stews and the cupboards with baby formula. There was normally an Owl from Andromeda once or twice a week, checking in on them all and sounded much happier than she had been here.

When Ginny wasn't home, Harry dropped Teddy either at the Lovegood's or the Burrow early in the morning, normally with Teddy still asleep (and how that kid managed to sleep when Harry took Sirius's motorbike to work he had no idea) and picked him up just as he was starting to get twitchy and irritable before dinner. As great as it was to have Luna and her insane father as baby-sitter back up, he never quite sat right on the days Teddy was there. Granted, he'd sent Hermione to discreetly check the house for explosive horns or anything of the same kind, but altogether he was a happier man when Teddy was with Molly. Luna was now editor of the Quibbler and as airy and dreamy as she had always been, but she was a wonderful carer. The most lucid Harry had ever seen her were when he either dropped off or picked up his young godson. Xenophilus, however, did not instil the same confidence.

Then again, since the war...he'd never been the same, old Lovegood. Quieter. He dressed in quieter colours, spoke quieter or didn't speak at all. His eyes...his eyes were haunted and tired and he lacked the insane, bubbling energy Harry had come to expect of him. Luna, however, never changed. She bounded through life with the same random tenacity of a concussed Yorkie and always greeted him with a sun-worship smile, no matter the ridiculous hour of the morning in which she opened the door.

Teddy Lupin was a two years old. He was walking, babbling in baby talk, changing facial features, height, skin colour and hair colour at random intervals and generally causing havoc amongst his extended family. However never, it was noted, did his eyes change; no matter how many changes he flashed through a day to annoy his grandmotherly Molly, his eyes remained the same clear hazel that had been a much a part of Remus Lupin as the fear of the moon.

It had been a long day. Harry pulled the motorbike to a jolted stop outside the Burrow and he and Ron spent a moment catching their breath.

"Blimey" Ron managed finally, and hauled himself out of the sidecar. Harry nodded dumbly. They'd been pushed hard today. Tested, retested, shouted at, duelled and run through a tremendous amount of drills. Harry had been thrown about so many times in his combat lessons he was sure there were bruises on top of his bruises. Ron had been forced to process information with spells and curses rebounding around him, klaxon alarms and massively complicated coding systems.

"I haven't done that much bloody work since sixth year" Ron declared as they trudged up the garden path. Harry snorted tiredly.

"Think of me when you're relaxing in your bath. You haven't got a cranky two-year-old to feed" muttered Harry. Ron winced, mentally face palming himself.

"Ruddy hell mate. You got my sympathies"

Harry yawned and tapped on the door. A flustered but widely smiling Hermione answered.

"Harry! Oh, Harry-" her smile melted into an anxious look-

"Now, Harry, you mustn't think on it too much because it's only natural at his age to, well, to need to identify-"

Harry held up his hand and stepped past her.

"'Mione, I have had a _hell _of a day. Whatever it is, can we leave this for another time?"

Before Hermione could answer, Molly had appeared. She had the same expression, caught between happiness and apprehension. He looked between them as Hermione gave Ron a kiss on the cheek.

"Alright, what's going on?"

Molly wrung her hands.

"Well, you see dear, its Teddy"

"Teddy!-" Harry's heart stopped and his blood ran cold- "Is he alright?"

Mrs Weasley immediately recognised her mistake and hurried to reassure him.

"Oh he's fine, dear, he's just fine. It's just...well, he's learned a new word Harry dear"

Still assuming the worst, Harry's befuddled mind immediately caused him to glare at Ron.

"What did I tell you about language around the kid?" he grouched. Ron looked wounded.

"Me? I wasn't even here today!"

"Doesn't mean he didn't learn it from-"

"Daddyyy!"

A chubby, blue-haired arrow leapt from where he'd been played and wrapped around Harry's legs. It was the word rather than the weight of the small child on his tired legs that jolted him. With a stricken expression, Harry looked up at Hermione and Molly, his hands on the shoulders of the small child at his feet, but not picking him up just yet.

"He found a picture of you and Ron and I in my room and immediately he just pointed at you and said it clear as a bell" stuttered Hermione, eyes wide.

Harry looked down and found that Teddy was sprouting a pig snout below his Lupin eyes, and chuckled. He pulled Teddy up by his arms and looked him in the eyes.

"When you're older, Teddy Lupin, you and I will have a conversation about this" he said softly. Uncaring of the serious atmosphere, Teddy began to whine and stuck his thumb in his mouth. Gently, Harry pulled the digit from its gummy prison and looked around for Teddy's bag.

"Alright little man, let's get you home. What do you say to Molly and auntie Hermione?"

"Fank you for 'aving me!" he said sulkily, burying his face in Harry's black robes, his hair turning red, as if to remind them that he was part of the family and therefore was above thank-yous. Harry shook his head at the boy's antics and gave his family a nod.

"Righto. Thanks again, Mum. Talk to you later, Ron, 'Mione"

They waved to him from the door as he crossed the lawn and settled and no-longer-crying Teddy into the sidecar. The little boy loved the big, rumbling, noisy motorbike with a degree of enthusiasm that made Harry smile wryly to think of the arguments Sirius and Lupin would have had about it.


	3. Hangover

Ginny Weasley was paying no attention to Professor McGonagall's parting words to the war-torn Seventh years. Her heart was beating so fast she couldn't hear a damn thing over its insistent thudding. The only thing she wanted to do was launch herself into Harry's arms and kiss him stupid. She hadn't seen him in six whole weeks and the lack of his company had driven her to distraction. His daily owls weren't enough. She'd needed to see him so desperately in the week leading up to her finals it was a physical longing. So he'd torn himself away to sneak into Hogsmeade for the afternoon. That had been six _ruddy _weeks ago. Between the last time she'd seen him and now, Teddy had started to call him 'daddy' which he'd written her an almost incomprehensible letter about the night of. He'd been working too hard; he and Ron both had, Molly fretted in letters to her daughter. Hermione worried as well, but she also worried about her own work and whether or not she was doing the right thing sleeping with Ron. Stupid things, in Ginny's opinion.

When she'd stood to shake hands with her professors, she'd seen him, standing at the back of the room, wearing his work robes over jeans and a black t-shirt. Her first thought was that he looked tired; even from this distance she could tell his face was drawn and there was a smudge of five o'clock shadow on his jaw. Her second thought, however, was that he looked bloody edible, but she kept that to herself. He was cheering as she stood, face alive with so much pride and love her heart had clenched almost painfully. Teddy stood by his leg, his hair bright red, as it tended to go around the Weasley's. He was waving one of the carved animals Hagrid had given him for his first birthday; Hermione had charmed them to neigh and bark and chirp and the little boy loved them.

Then everyone was clapping and Ginny was running across the room, halfway to Harry before the first hat had hit the floor. Harry met her in the middle and for some ridiculous reason, his arms around her and his scent enveloping her triggered the silliest response; she burst into tears.

She felt Harry stiffen and hold her tighter, his heart thundering under his shirt and she hid her shame from her world.

"Bugger it, I'm sorry. I d-don't-oh, _bloody hell._ I don't even know why I'm crying" she grouched, trying to laugh. Harry snorted and bent his head, kissing away her tears. His lips closed around the wetness and his tongue hinted at brushing the surface of her skin, tasting the salt, quickly and lightly. Her skin felt suddenly tight and fire burst in her belly.

"Oh, _Harry_" she gasped.

He chuckled.

"Come on, Gin" he whispered. They'd weaved through the celebratory throng and found Ron and Hermione, wrapped up in a similar embrace and Harry had produced a camera to snap a picture that had roused them. Molly, who was also blubbering, managed to pull herself together for long enough to get a picture of the four of them and she'd also snapped one when Teddy ran up to Ginny and ordered to be hugged. She'd laughed, bent at the knee and scooped him up. Harry was standing behind her, laughing, love flooding his eyes as he looked at the two most important people in his life. It was a beautiful picture.

Oh, how they'd celebrated that night. The Burrow was alive again, music booming and light exploding. Arthur had simply given up on reprimanding George for the fireworks and had instead taken Harry and Neville out to put up silencing charms and a Muggle-repelling barrier. The older members had packed it in about the same time as Harry put Teddy into his camp bed in Ginny's room, but the sun was rising by the time Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan and Hannah Abbot, among others. Harry had been in such a good mood he hadn't even noticed the looks Dean was giving he and Ginny.

They were so utterly written off that it was lunchtime before they even cracked an eyelid, and then only because they were suddenly assaulted by a small, green-skinned boy with a very long tongue.

"Daddy, daddy! Imma frog!" Teddy exclaimed, his voice hitting new records of high. Harry groaned in agony and rolled on his side to try and hide from the overly loud small child.

"Ahh, Teddy, not now" he moaned.

Instead, he bounced the bed.

"But _dadddyyyy_ I left my horsy inna bath an' Uncle Ron won't come out of the toilet!"

_Of course he won't _thought Harry wryly _Uncle Ron should not drink Firewhiskey. __**Ever**__. _

But Teddy's insistent bouncing was shooting claws of agony through Harry's head and he quickly sat up. Too quickly. The room twisted violently and he clutched his temples with a low groan, very, _very _slowly leaning back on the headrest. His heart was pounding unnaturally loudly as he tried to control his now bucking stomach.

"Oww, bullocks, please, Teddy, don't bounce, okay, buddy? Or talk loud" he pleaded, reaching blindly for his glasses.

"Daddy, thassa bad word" Teddy scolded, dead-pan, waggling his finger like he'd seen Molly do countless times.

From the other side of the bed, Ginny had apparently decided she couldn't stand it any longer because she saw bolt upright in bed, rocking Teddy. Harry was still looking for his glasses when he heard staggering footsteps on the floorboards.

"Hey, nantie Ginny's awa-" the door slammed and Teddy sounded confused- "Where'd she go?"

_No doubt to unsurp Ron from the porclein bus ride _Harry thought grimly as he found his glasses and swung his feet out of bed, an action which his stomach and head protested to fiercely.

"Oooohhh...bugger" he muttered, his head falling to his hands, elbows resting on his knees.

"Thassa bad word too" said Teddy matter-of-factly. Unable to find the energy, Harry's head dropped into his head and he groaned. A small hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"Are you sick, daddy?" Teddy sounded worried. Harry looked up and over his shoulder and found a pair of serious hazel eyes looking back quizzically. He felt a sudden rush of affection for the little boy and ruffled his blue-green hair.

"Not really, little man, I'm just not feeling all that good. You might have to take it easy on us all, today, okay?-" At Teddy's nod, he stood and took a moment to let out an uneasy breath-

"Don't _ever _let your Uncle Ron talk you into things, Teddy. It is a very, _very _bad thing and he is a _moron_" declared Harry fervently and made his way unsteadily to the door. Teddy cocked his head, watching his retreating back, and then made his legs extra long to slide off the bed and catch up to him.


	4. Motherhood

Ginny barely heard a word of the coach's heartfelt speech as they stood in the changing rooms. She'd sung (badly and loudly, as team anthems were meant to be), she'd let herself be drenched in Butterbeer, she'd ridden the high of winning the grand final. As she'd landed, the Snitch frantic in her hand, she'd found Harry's face in the front row. He was looking back at her, grinning, clapping, whistling, pride pouring out to her in the connection between them. Teddy was sitting on Ron's shoulders, squealing happily, his face painted in the Harpies colours.

She'd been paying attention to the coach's speech, honestly...until a small, purple-haired child came bounding into the change room, setting up a yelp from one of the Chasers, standing in nothing but a towel.

"Mama!" he cried, launching himself into Ginny's arms. She dropped a bottle of Butterbeer in order to grab the small child before he hit the floor. The surprise must have showed on her face and for a moment she couldn't say anything. She just looked at the small boy with a werewolf's eyes, dumbfounded. A heartbeat later, she found her voice and cleared her throat.

"Teddy! You're not supposed to be in here!" her scowling went unnoticed by Teddy; she was hugging him tightly and breathing in his warm smell of cookies, dirt and Harry.

"Daddy's outside waiting and me and Uncle Ron's hungry" sulked Teddy, folding his arms. Ginny giggled at his serious expression, horrified to find there were tears in her eyes. Teddy wiped her cheek with one pudgy hand.

"You cryin' mama?" he said, suddenly upset.

"Oh, Teddy-" she realised her team was watching her, that the coach had fallen quiet, and tried to pull herself together. She shifted Teddy onto her hip and gave his nose a teasing tug- "I'm alright, I'm just really happy to see you, that's all" she assured him.

"I didn't know you had a kid, Ginny" piped up the Harpies Keeper, Jacinta. Ginny looked guiltily at Teddy, unsure of what to say. Of course, Teddy rescued her easily in a single swoop.

"She's not really my mummy. My Mummy's name was Tonks, but she had to go away with my dad Remus. They're looking after me from up in the clouds; dad said so"

Ginny was sure she saw tears well up at the corner of quite a few eyes at Teddy's short, innocent explanation. She kissed Teddy's cheek and laughed as he yelped and wiped it away in disgust, sliding out of her arms and catching her hand.

"C'mon, mum, c'mon. Me an' Uncle Ron are hungry"

"Uncle Ron and _I _sweetheart. I've gotta go. I'll see you all pre-season!"

Ginny barely managed to grab her bag and shout farewell to the girls before Teddy had insistently dragged out of the change rooms. Her annoyance disappeared in an instance because, standing with his hands in his pockets and an embarrassed look on his face, was Harry.

She caught her breath. Oh, that really wasn't fair. He had his head down, exposing the graceful line of the back of his neck, and his glasses glinted in the afternoon sun as he looked up. His hands were shoved in the back pockets of his jeans and he looked adorably ruffled with a hint of a blush creeping across his cheeks.

"Bloody Ron! He told him to go in and get you and I wasn't-meph!"

Ginny threw herself at him and slammed her lips to his, effectively silencing him. His breath was warm and sweet and he gasped softly when she caught his bottom lip sharply between her teeth. His hands tightened on her waist and she could feel him weighing up his options of surviving if Hermione found him passionately making out with Ginny while Teddy stood a few feet away, looking interested. Then he wrapped his arms around her middle and swung her in a circle, slanting his mouth across hers and tasting the sweetest crevices of her lips, taking her breath away and stealing any possible chance she'd ever had of ever falling out of love with him.

"Oh bloody hell! Are you two right there? You're scaring the kid!" roared Ron, breaking them apart. Hermione stood with Teddy, who was giggling, apparently at the scarlet hue of his uncle Ron's features. She had a disapproving look on her face that made Harry laugh. The first time he'd ever seen _that _expression was on the train to Hogwarts and one Ronald Billius Weasley had just tried and failed in turning his rat yellow.

"I don't think he's that scarred, Ron" commented Ginny, nuzzling Harry's neck, looking down at Teddy, who was sitting on Hermione's hip and still giggling.

"Uncle Ron went this colour" he chuckled, his face turning unnaturally purple.

Harry, still chortling, leaned over and put the boy onto his shoulders, where he sat clinging to his godfather's flyaway black hair and squealing in excitement. One arm on Teddy's foot, holding him steady, and the other around Ginny, Harry led the way off the Quidditch grounds, on their way to a celebratory dinner for five.


	5. Mornings

Morning crept slowly into the Weasley-Potter master bedroom of 12 Grimmald place. Golden shadows spread through the light room until Ginny stirred, blinking heavily and stretching her long, slender limbs. Upon blinking at the clock on her bedside, she turned her head to take in tangle of black hair on the sheets like an ink clot. She giggled softly, covering her mouth lest the sound awake the sleeping angel next to her.

A long bang had settled across his inviting top lip and fluttered with each steady breath in and out. Smiling lopsidedly, Ginny reached over and brushed it off her lover's face. He murmured and caught her wrist sleepily. She froze, but a moment later her wrist slipped from his sleepy grasp.

She kissed his forehead and retreated again, tracing the curve of his cheek until it turned to the pale column of his neck. Gently, she traced the pulse there with her lips until he drifted awake. Lifting her head at the fingers carding through her hair, she smiled at his dreamy smile.

"I was dreaming" he muttered, his voice heavy and hoarse from the late night and not-quite-wakefulness.

"Sorry to interrupt" she whispered for no particular reason other than the morning soft, golden stillness seemed too sacred to be interrupted. He held up a finger in a wait-a-moment gesture and turned to fumble for his glasses on the bedside table. Ginny giggled at his antics; she'd tried time and time again to get him to wear contacts, but he refused on the grounds of finances. Which they had plenty of. She was about to bring it up again when he looked at her that particular way, his eyes smouldering and just for her.

"Yeah. This is better" he decided with a devious smile.

All thoughts of argument forgotten, Ginny dragged her body onto his chest and let her hair fall around her face, hiding them both behind a crimson curtain.

"As if there was any doubt" she said as if she never questioned herself. He knew otherwise, because he pushed himself up and kissed her, closed-mouth, on the lips.

"Never" he said, pulling away.

However, that chaste brush of lips was not enough for Ginerva Weasley this morning. She sat up, her knees either side of his hips, and cupped his face, pressing his lips hungrily to hers. The morning breath didn't seem to faze her, because he was kissing her back. He flicked his tongue across her bottom lip like a whip and then drew it between his teeth as though to soothe the wound. She gasped and held him tighter, shifting just enough to take his breath away.

"Dammit, Gin, Teddy's gunna be in-"

She nipped his ear lobe, one hand tracking down his chest to tease the elastic of his boxer shorts.

"Not if we're quick" she purred cheekily.

He laughed and rolled so he was sprawled across her, holding her wrists to the mattress before she could do any damage with those quick, talented, slender fingers.

"You're a dangerous bloody women, Gin" he muttered before swooping in to claim her lips. She groaned, her skin electrified at his touch, her blood like liquid fire in her veins.

"_Harry_" she gasped, arching into him as his lips fell to her weak spot, where her shoulder met her neck. His eyes met hers, green and blue, the sky and the forest, aching to meet each other-

"Mummy, daddy?"

They sprang apart, hair mussed, eyes wide, lips ruddy and cheeks florescent, as Teddy pushed open the door, sleepily rubbing his eyes. He was dressed in flannelette pyjamas made from an old pair of Ron's Chudley Cannons ones, and they were a bit long in the leg for him usually, but this morning he had put an extra inch to his height so that he could walk without tripping. His periwinkle blue hair had grown long during the night and he peered at them drowsily through an inch of bangs.

"H-hey, hey there, Teddy, good morning" Harry stuttered, forcing a smile. Ginny patted the duvet cover and shifted a bit so Teddy could wriggle in between her and Harry. He shrunk down the couple of inches to his normal size, fitting perfectly into the space between them.

Harry shifted uncomfortably, fidgeting with his position, and Ginny smirked at him knowingly over Teddy's head. He glared in reply; _your fault _he mouthed. She chortled and smoothed Teddy's unruly hair. His eyes were drooping again, lulled by the warm cacoon of the master bed. Ginny buried her face into the pillow near his head, taking in the earthy smell of small child and the sharper tang that was Harry. The steady, gently breathing of the small child next to her was like a lullaby.

When Kretcher staggered in with a heaped breakfast tray a half-hour later, the family was asleep. Ginny was curled around Teddy, the little boy cuddled safely into her breast, and Harry lay alongside him, his arms encircling them both.

Without a word on half-bloods or blood traitors, Kretcher left the tray on the bedside, cast a warming charm over the food and tea, and snuck back out again.

As the Saturday morning drew on, the family slept on, oblivious. If someone were to stand in the doorway, looking in on the little scene, the sunlight streaming in through the window was almost blinding. So blinding in fact, that one could be forgiven if they thought, for heartbeat amongst the glare of yellow sunbeams, a tall, lanky man with his arm around a lean, pink-haired woman, also watching. But the image was gone in a moment...as if by magic.


	6. Shotgun wedding

**AN; I apologise in advance for the sheer length and general long windedness of this 'short' piece. I assure you, there is a Teddy-Harry message here, however hidden in Ginny-Harry 'fluff' it may be. **

**Also, as I am unsure of the specifics of the age gaps between the Second Generation characters, I have written this as thought Teddy Lupin is ten years older than James and two years older than Victore Weasley-Delacour. **

**Regards **

**CW**

"Shit!"

Harry yanked furiously on the tie again, his fingers shaking so badly that, again, the neat knot he was trying for came out in a tangled web of dark blue silk.

"Shit!" he repeated, ruffling a trembling hand through his hair and then freezing, swinging on his toes to the mirror and curse, louder this time, at his messy black mop. As, frustrated and out-his-mind with nerves, he tried to tame his hair, the tie and find his damn shoes, he didn't notice Teddy watching him from the doorframe.

"Bloody hell!"

He kicked his toe on the foot of the bed and collapsed onto the unmade sheets, disturbance darkening his face as he closed his eyes and dragged a hand down his face.

Dammit, he couldn't do this! He couldn't do this! This was insane! _He _was insane! The whole damn world was bloody mental!

Suddenly, there were light footsteps on the floor, rousing him from his internal rant, and he opened his eyes. Teddy was standing in front of him, holding out his hand.

"Give us ya tie, Dad. And take a few deep breaths. You look like nutter"

Suddenly, the world didn't seem so totally mental. With a heavy sigh of relief, Harry pulled the tangled loop over his head and handed it over. Ten-year-old Teddy Lupin undid the disastrous attempt and looped it around his own neck.

"I am a nutter, mate. Completely and utterly" he grunted, flicking his wand at his shoes and watching as the laces did themselves up. Teddy snorted and handed him his tie. Thankfully, Harry took it and slipped it over his head.

"Thanks, Teddy" he said, checking his appearance again in the mirror. The young Metamorphmagus looked at his shiny new shoes and said nothing. His hair was dark and subdued today, his eyes serious and browner than normal. He fitted his suit perfectly.

If Harry had not been half out of his mind with barely contained panic, he might have noticed his godson's strange behaviour. Instead he wet his lips and tugged on his collar, before removing his glasses and polishing them. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Harry whirled. Ron stood, grinning, and held up Harry and Teddy's boutonnieres. The flowers fluttered and breathed, preserved intricately, and Harry swallowed.

"How's it goin' blokes?"

Harry looked green and turned back to the mirror to try and flatten down a particularly unruly tuff. Ron glanced at Teddy, who shrugged, leaning casually on the wall, his lean arms folded. Hermione and Ginny often commented on what a heartbreaker Teddy Lupin was going to be when he discovered the existence of the fairer sex. After all, he could make himself appear just as they wanted him to. Harry normally found this amusing; he found it hard to imagine Teddy Lupin changing anything about himself to concur with the whims of anyone, even a pretty girl.

"He's been like this all morning" commented Teddy, sounding bored. Ron shot another glance at the boy; this was not like him at all. Then he did a double-take; dark hair? His eyes not the exact shade and shape and tone as Remus Lupin's? No cheeky grin?

Something was wrong with Teddy.

"Here, mate, put this on" ordered Ron, tossing Harry his lapel decoration and went over to the young boy. Harry fumbled for it and glared at him.

"Bloody Merlin, Ron" he snapped. The red-head just rolled his eyes. The man was Seeker to his bootstraps; as if he'd really let the damn thing drop. He ignored him and fixed Teddy's jacket for him.

"Alright, Ted?"

He nodded, not meeting Ron's eyes. Just as he was about to press further, there was another knock at the door. Neville looked about half as nervous as Harry, which was saying something.

"We're ready to go, blokes...blimey, you all right, Harry?" he asked, immediately seeing his friends state of panic.

"Not right now, Neville" he muttered, checking his suit with a pounding heart. There was panic in his green eyes when he turned to face his groomsmen again.

"Godric on a bloody Firebolt, what the hell am I doing?" he exclaimed, his hand going up to yank the constricting tie loose. His best man's big, freckled hand stopped the movement and forcefully turned his shoulders, pushing him out the door.

"You are marrying my sister because you've been driving yourself half insane about asking her for the last eleven ruddy years. Now you're going to stand up the front, you're going to remember how to breath and you're going to look like a love struck git when she comes down the aisle. Got it?"

Ron had propelled him down the stairs and out the front door before he could protest. They waited for Neville and Teddy, who had collected George, Angelina, Arthur and Fleur on their way down. Fleur tugged her eight-year-old daughter's pretty, pale blue cardigan as they collected themselves. Neville locked the Burrow's door, George and Arthur checked the tent already set up on the field, awaiting the reception.

Victore gave Teddy a smile that said just how much she was exasperated with her mother's insistent fussing and he cracked a smile for the first time since that morning in return. Fleur watched the short exchange with a gleam in her eye that made Harry grip Teddy's arm firmly to save him from the perfectly manicured talons of Fleur Weasley-Delacour.

"Alright everyone, Our Lady of Mercy church, Godric's Hollow. Ready?" ordered Ron. With a sucking feeling behind his belly button, Harry tumbled into space and dragged Teddy with him. They landed, behind the little stone church that Harry had agonised over. The crowd was already gathering; as they rounded the side of the building, he could see Molly Weasley standing at the front doors, her hands on her hips in a formidable pose. Beyond the steady stream, Hagrid stood with Bill, Charlie and Kingsley. They all watched carefully for any sign of danger or Muggles who had evaded the charms and shields. Harry breathed a sigh of relief when Lee Jordan cut through the crowd on his long legs; the former-prankster was the best in the business when it came to protection.

"Alright Harry? Teddy, mate, lookin' sharp-" the boy gave his hero a half-hearted attempt at a smile-

"The perimeters working well; I've got constant mobile walkers. No snooping reporters, no bastard Volde supporters, nobody who smells funny is getting through today"

"Thanks, Lee"

The tall man nodded, his dreadlocks bobbing, and somebody called his name. He glanced over his shoulder and nodded again to somebody.

"Right, there's a side door just there. Better hurry up; Molly's having kittens. The rest of you, come with me"

While the others left with Lee, Harry, Teddy, Neville and Ron hastened inside. Sure enough, Molly was waiting for them, looking strained and excited under her loud hat, a hummingbird sitting strangely subdued on the brim. Harry had a funny idea that the magicked bird had gotten a stern talking-to previously as he wondered how Molly did it; presided with such awing tenacity over these events.

He nodded mutely as Molly rushed him through the order of events, not really listening, concentrating more on calming his racing pulse and handling the spontaneous opening of all his pores. Standing at the altar, he shook hands with the little officiator and tried very hard not to pace. He rocked back on his heels and gave his best attempt at smiles to his friends in the crowd.

Then suddenly, Charlie slipped inside and gave him thumbs up. His heart clenched and pounced into his throat.

"You'll be right, dad" said a quiet voice by his left ear. He looked at Teddy, who looked back. There was such utter blind faith in those brown eyes that Harry felt a surge of confidence. He clapped Teddy on the shoulder and squeezed gently. They held each other's gaze, understanding between them.

"Thanks Teddy" he said softly. He wanted to say more. He was suddenly filled with a thousand things he should probably say to Teddy, but there wasn't a chance.

Because the organ began to play and the doors opened.

Luna danced forward, looking stunningly brilliant in her dark blue dress and a stunningly yellow headband. Harry snuck a look at Neville's face and smirked; poor Neville looked much like he had when Hermione jinxed him with a Full Body Bind in first year. Next came Hermione, stepping forward purposefully, her chin held high. Again, Harry looked to the side and saw a very different expression to Neville's. It was a half-smile, soft eyes and a deep breath as if breathing in a beautiful scent. Almost a half-sigh.

There was a gasp and a collective inhale following the entry of the bride. The rest of the world dropped away as Harry, caught midst cursing himself for missing her entrance, turned to the front.

Ginny glowed. No, she shone; in a way that the moon, expecting mothers and people in love have in common. Someone else must have noticed the gleam that she walked with as well; Harry distinctly heard the accusation _shotgun wedding _with a grin and Hermione caught his eye with a wink.

Her dress floated softly around her, curling and flowing in a dreamy expanse of white lace and sheer silk that both amplified and hide her figure from the many tearful, sharp, watchful, joyful eyes upon her. Her hair made a violent, beautiful contrast, tumbling in soft wavy lines around her creamy shoulders; red and white. Blood on hospital sheets. His bride, his wife, stepping towards him and lifting her eyes shyly to meet his. He didn't even notice Arthur standing by her side, tears flowing silently down his cheeks even as he smiled proudly.

Then there was just her, and him, and words flowing over him, meaningless. They didn't need this, he thought, looking into her eyes. All the two of them needed was the sky to fly in and a place to curl up together like a pair of cats at night. Love shone out of her face like sunlight. He suddenly remembered they were not actually alone and opened up his awareness to take in the people crammed into the small church.

No, they did need this, he and Ginny. Because they were not simply two people. They were a conglomerate. A hundred people in two hearts, beating as one. That was them.

The officiator asked for the rings and Harry looked expectantly at Ron, whose hand went confidently to his inside pocket...and froze. The air crackled. The best man, with wide eyes and a pounding heart, patted himself down and then met Harry's eyes, horrified, who looked at Ginny, equally as horrified.

"Ron..." Hermione warned. A grin broke across his face and he went back to his inside pocket and produced the box. Laughter awoke in the rafters, echoing around them and Harry felt all the worry, the stress, the nervous waiting, fall away. He looked at Ginny, who was laughing.

_I love you _he mouthed. Her eyes twinkled and she shifted so the hem of her dress kicked up and he caught a glimpse of the heels she'd forced herself to wear.

_You'd better _she mouthed back. He grinned and took a deep breath as Ginny took his ring and looked into his eyes. Her pretty pink mouth opened and she began to speak.

The reception was, undoubtedly, in full swing, when Hermione dragged herself away to catch a breath of fresh air outside the tent. Fanning herself and tugging at the curls beginning to break out of their straightness, she gazed up at the stars with a smile playing her lips.

Something scuffed in the grass. She blinked and looked up, catching sight of a small figure ducking out of sight. Frowning, she touched the side of her dress where her wand was attached to her garter, and stepped onto the grass.

"Teddy?"

The boy froze, half-way across the lawn, heading deeper into the field. Head hung guiltily, he turned to face Hermione with the expression of a kicked dog.

"Teddy, what's wrong?"

"Nothing" he said immediately, scrubbing his eyes before she noticed the tears glistening silver on his face. Her heart melted as she walked quickly forward to embrace him.

"Oh, Teddy, what on earth is the matter?"

He sniffed, shoulders hunched, and extracted himself from her loving arms.

"Mum and dad...Harry and Ginny, they're going away now, aren't they?"

Hermione looked confused and felt a stab of pain when he called them by their names. There was something alien about it. Folding her arms against the chill sneaking into the spring night air, she cocked her head and examined him.

"They're going on their honeymoon, but they shan't be gone long. Ginny's got a match in Bulgaria-" _which she probably won't be attending _Hermione realised dryly- "And you dads got work. But you're staying with Ron and I...are...are you worried they won't be here to put help you buy your things for Hogwarts?"

With a shake of his head, he scuffed his feet on the grass and looked away. With his hands shoved in his pockets, his neck bent in that way, his lip caught between his teeth and his eyes narrowed, she'd be damned if he didn't look a strange little mix of the four of them; Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny. He looked far too grown up, far too burdened, to be just ten years old. Now he looked like his father.

"I'm not their real kid. They won't want me around anymore. Ginny's having a baby and-and it'll be theirs-" his voice cracked horribly- "Why would they want to keep some orphan half-breed around when they're about to have their own baby?"

Hermione must have gasped in horror, because he suddenly looked her way. He took a couple of sudden steps back from the tangible wrath boiling in her brown eyes and whimpered as she clenched her fists, nostrils flaring.

"Bloody Muriel's been talking to you, hasn't she? That _bitch! _Oohh that utter, complete and total _hag! _How _dare-" _she cut herself and sucked in a deep breath. Teddy stood and trembled, wishing he hadn't nodded, while she collected herself. Suddenly she shook her head with a twisted smile.

"Oh, Teddy. Darling, if you believe that silly, stupid woman even in the slightest...you don't your dad at all"

He blinked, suddenly child-like again.

"Ya mean he won't leave?" he asked tentatively.

"Well he's going to go away with Ginny for a while, but he's not ever going to leave you like that"

For only the second time since he'd overheard Muriel predicting dire things for Harry's godson, now that the man was getting married and going off to 'start his own family instead of a pretend one with some orphan half-breed' Teddy smiled.

"Really?"

Hermione kissed his head.

"Of course, Teddy. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and rattle a hag"

With these words, she swung on her heel and stormed away, hair fluttered wildly as she tugged her wand loose from her garter. Teddy scrunched up his nose at the flash of exposed thigh and then grinned. He knew that look on his auntie Hermione, only too well. Quickly, he scampered off to find Victore and get a good seat for the coming fireworks. He didn't even notice as his hair became bright blue and his eyes swirled back to being sharp, kind hazel.


	7. Acceptance

**A/N; Contains swearing, smoking and suggested violence. Also, the theme is homosexuality. If you don't like it, don't read it. **

**Teddy is not homosexual. He is, however, faced with it. **

**Regards **

**CW**

"...and then Ron's just gives him this shit-eating grin and says 'Hermione, this is my colleague Duncraig. Duncraig, this is my girlfriend'! Godric, Gin, you should have seen this bloke's face! He was well and truly buggered!"

Ginny, standing at the kitchen sink, was laughing as Harry recounted the tale of today's mischief. He was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea waiting for his fiancé, talking to her animatedly over the island. Their front door swung open and slammed shut. Harry turned in his seat and Ginny looked up with a smile.

"Hi, Ted. How was your..."

The ten years and eleven months-old boy dumped his schoolbag on the floor at the foot of the stairs and thumped up without a word. Ginny and Harry exchanged a look.

"Would you mind?" she said, gesturing with soap-sudd covered hands. Harry was already on his feet, nodding as he followed his godson up the stairs. He turned at the landing and knocked gently on his bedroom door with the back of his knuckles.

"Teddy? Are you okay?"

There was a muffled sound that could have been an admission of entry or an order to leave him alone. Harry took the chance and swung the door open. On the unmade bed, a blue-haired boy sat with his knees drawn to his chest, his bottom lip trembling. He looked up hesitantly as Harry stepped into his room.

"What's wrong, Teddy?"

Again, there was a moment's hesitation and a tear escaped down the boy's cheek. Harry hurried to his side and sat down on the bed, reaching for him.

"Teddy, what's wrong?" he did his very best to keep the panic from his voice. Teddy chewed his bottom lip, burying his face in Harry's shirt. After a moment, he muttered something that his godfather couldn't hear.

"What was that?"

The tear-stained face lifted.

"Dad, what's a poofter?"

The air whooshed from Harry's lungs and he spent a good few minutes doing an impersonation of a beached fish.

"A-a-a _what?_ Where did you-"

Harry's voice was cut off as significantly as though he had been muted.

"Oh, _Ted! _Who did this?"

Teddy had altered his appearance to its actual state, taking Harry's breath away with the cruel subtly of a bludger. There was a brilliant shiner darkening the left side of Teddy's face. His lip was split and there was a bloody graze on his cheek, as if someone had pushed him repeatedly to the ground. The collar of his school shirt was ripped and, now that Harry was paying attention, there was a bloodstain on his sleeve.

"Kids at school. They called me...that word...and other stuff too"

Harry's heart was clenched so painfully in his chest that it was affecting his ability to breathe. He felt a churn of harsh conflict boiling under his chest bone, at a level he hadn't felt since fifth year. Rage and shock and guilt and pure, undivided _anger _at the people who had done this to his godson.

"A poofter's...ah...it's a word, a horrible, terrible word, for blokes who like other blokes"

Teddy frowned, confused.

"What d'ya mean? Blokes who like other blokes?"

Harry cleared his throat, mind searching desperately for a way of explaining this. It almost made him wish that he'd had The Talk from someone other than the Weasley twins at the end of second year.

"Well, like...the way I like Ginny, and Uncle Ron likes 'Mione"

"Oh...like sleeping together and stuff?"

Harry nodded, uncertain as to how Teddy was going to take it. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then confused.

"Well, what's wrong with that?"

Harry almost chuckled at Teddy's innocent acceptance. He wished, and not for the first time, that the rest of the world could see things through a child's eyes. It would make human history a whole lot less bloody.

"There's nothing wrong with it. It's just some people are really prejudiced against it, that's all, and they come up with these horrible words to call other people"

"Why's it a horrible word?"

For a moment, Harry was quiet, rubbing soothing circle's on Teddy's back more for himself than for the small child. Then, inspiration struck him and he found himself absurdly grateful that Draco Malfoy was _still _such an unbelievable wanker.

"Do you remember that time that man called Auntie Hermione that word? And Uncle Ron got very angry?"

A slow blink of understanding.

"The 'M' word?"

"Yes. Well, it's kind of like that. It's just a really bad word for a person"

"So...the ferret-"

"Mr Malfoy, Ted" Harry corrected, trying to hide a smile and reminding himself to have a chat to his brother-in-law.

"-Mr Malfoy is pr-pre-ju-dice against Muggle-born people, like those boy's are pre-judice against poof...um...?"

"Homosexuals" supplied Harry. Teddy's brow knitted and he mouthed the unfamiliar word a few times before giving up.

"Yeah. That" he said instead. Harry nodded and for a moment, he and Teddy were quietly thoughtful. Then Harry broke the silence.

"So why do you think those boys called you that?"

Teddy was playing with the cut on his lip where the blood was congealing and sticking to his finger when he prodded it.

"Huh? Oh, I think it's coz I held my friend's hand today when he was crying"

"Ah...why were you holding his hand?" he tried to sound natural. _Is my godson gay? Oh come off it, Harry, he's ten for Godric's sake! _

"Coz he was crying and the teacher and Ryan were sitting on either side of him so I couldn't put my arm around him or something...does holding Toby's hand make me a...like blokes?"

Harry smiled.

"No. It makes you a good friend. And you shouldn't ever give up on your friends just because they're different or...difficult" he added as an afterthought, thinking of what Hermione and Ron had put up with from him over the years.

Teddy nodded in assent.

"Okay. Thanks dad"

Harry kissed his godson's hair affectionately. Then he pulled his wand from his back pocket.

"Here, sit up and I'll get ya cleaned up. Your mum's will have guts for garters if they see you like this"

* * *

><p>Sixteen-year-old Teddy Lupin stood his ground with a playful smirk as the green-uniformed Slytherin spat in his general direction. He easily sidestepped it, and his grin only widened.<p>

"Well, shit, Parkinson, no wonder you lot can't win a bloody game, aim like that" he taunted.

"Someone's gunna wipe that shit-eating grin of yours right off your faggot face one of these days, Lupin! You better watch yourself, ya fucking poof" the greasy-haired Snake snarled, being held back by two of his teammates. Throwing his head back, Teddy roared with laughter.

"Yeah, alright, Parkinson. Maybe. But it won't be you. Poof or not, I'm still a damn sight prettier than you darlin'"

Parkinson's jaw dropped and his eyes bulged. At his wordlessness, the Gryffindor's claimed victory by default and began to walk away, laughing. Then someone had shouted after them, apparently feeling braver now the Gryffindor's were walking away.

"Betcha he's fucking Thomas! Everyone knows he take it up the arse!"

Jake Thomas, Dean Thomas' eldest son, a year below Teddy, looked like a corner rabbit and shrunk back a little in the knot of Gryffindor's. Teddy whirled, his eyes went suddenly dangerous, the light of good humour extinguishing as suddenly as a candle in the wind. In the next heartbeat, his wand was pointed at the Slytherin's and Gryffindor's Beaters had leapt forward to stop him doing something that would lose the house some serious points.

Suitably restrained, Teddy snarled wordlessly and the other team began to back away like he was a rabid animal.

"Walk. The fuck. Away. All of ya" he ground out, a lethal gleam in his feral features. The Beaters, Lee Finnegan and Harris Bones, didn't let go of Teddy until the snakes were well out of sight. With a curt nod of thanks, Teddy strode off to the side of the stands, followed inconspicuously by Jake Thomas.

"Light this, will ya?" Teddy's voice was smooth and nonchalant as he raised an cigarette to his lips. He'd never told his father that he smoked; Harry would no doubt hand him over to Ginny and Hermione for a plethora of hexes and jinxes that would leave him temporarily unable to _move_, yet alone _think _about raising another cancer stick to his lips.

Jake lit his wand tip smoothly, lighting Teddy's and then lit one of his own. For a moment, the two boys stood in the cold shade of the stands and smoked. It was Jake who broke it;

"Ya not really a poof, are ya?"

Teddy shrugged, taking a casual draw of the cig.

"Nah, don't fink so...-" he grinned broadly- "Shut Parkinson right up though, dinnit?"

He snickered, but Jake didn't say anything. He scuffed a piece of dirt with his Quidditch boot and played with the lighter. After a moment he muttered something that Teddy didn't catch.

"What'd ya say, mate?"

"I said, I reckon I might be" he blurted nervously, almost too loud.

Teddy's eyebrows barely raised as he took another long drag and shrugged.

"Oh yeah" he said, for no other reason other than society's demand that he should say something out loud when your best mate comes out of the closet. His mind was actually on the amount of cleaning agent left in his broom-cleaning kit. Jake's eyes widened with his mouth.

"What, that's it? But...ya share a dorm with me!" he was disbelieving of Teddy's acceptance. The Metamorphmagus cocked an eyebrow.

"D'ya fancy me?"

Jake spluttered for a moment, half-smiling in pure incredulity.

"Wha..! Nah, mate. I mean, you're fit, but...you're like a brover, aye?"

Teddy grinned as he raised the cig, chuckling.

"Thanks. Do alright yourself-"he winked cheekily and Thomas blushed furiously- "Serious though, I don't mind. Ya still my mate"

Jake grinned in relief, his tense shoulders relaxing. Again, they sunk into a companionable silence, blowing lazy smoke rings into the air. Only when Teddy straightened and extinguished his butt did words break the silence once more.

"Ya...ya know...ah, ya never asked me if I do fancy someone" Jake said shakily, looking down at his feet. Teddy glanced at him and leaned one shoulder on the stand with his arms folded across his Keeper's chest, head to the side thoughtfully.

"Alright then, mate. Do you fancy someone?"

The blush was a raging wildfire across Jake's unblemished, sharp cheek bones and he looked up shyly. A grin broke across Teddy's face.

"Fred Weasley!" he exclaimed triumphantly, reading the other boy's expression with disturbing ease. Jake spluttered, but couldn't keep the coy grin off his face before becoming suddenly serious.

"Look, I know he's kinda your cousin an' all, but could you...not, mention it, to him?"

Teddy smiled, but his voice was serious.

"Why not? Might be able to set you up"

Jake searched his friend's face for a moment, hope blazing next to the nervousness.

"Wait...Fred's gay?"

Teddy winked and threw an arm around Jake's shoulders.

"Right raving poof mate. And he'll treat you right too; I'll make sure of that. Now c'mon. I gotta send an owl to my old man"

"Why?" Jake was obviously distracted by the idea that his stubborn crush on Fredrick Weasley Junior may not be unrequited that the word came out in two syllables, and out of instinct rather than any curiosity. Teddy smiled again, softly, thinking of an afternoon of blood and tears and his godfather's worried, understanding green eyes.

"He gave me some good advice when I was a kid"

"What about?"

Teddy snorted wryly.

"Life"


	8. Of Snitches and Panic

**A/N: For the sake of this Fanfiction, the Snitch was able to be mended post-'opening at the close' **

The day was one of those made for flying. It was crisp and bright, but not so bright as would blind you if you swung the broom the wrong way, and not so crisp as would freeze you at the higher altitudes. The first frosts of Christmas were sparkling on the grass, but the first snows were yet to fall on Godric's Hollow. What was best about it was that it was a Saturday in the Christmas holidays, and therefore eleven-year-old Teddy Lupin did not have school and his godfather Harry Potter did not have work.

So they were standing in the middle of the field. Actually, more accurately, Teddy was standing and Harry was kneeling in front of him, holding out his hand.

"Know what this is, Teddy?"

The young Metamorphmagus' eyes were brilliant in their excited sheen as he took in the gently fluttering object in Harry's palm.

"It's a Golden Snitch! Wow, dad, how'd you get one?"

Harry ignored the sharp jab that the question drew from his memories and smiled instead.

"A man named Albus Dumbledore gave it to me, a while ago now. It's a bit old, but I reckon it's still got some good flight time left in it. You ready?"

Teddy refrained, only just, from squealing in delight.

"Really? Wicked! Come on, come on, hurry up!"

Harry laughed at his godson's excitement as he mounted his broom and kicked off smoothly. It was Teddy's first time home from Hogwarts and between the legends he'd heard of his godfather (the youngest Seeker in Hogwarts history) and his adoptive mother being a famed Holyhead Harpies Chaser, the boy was never off the subject of Quidditch.

He released the Snitch and watched its seductive glint vanish into the sunlight. Teddy swooped past him, whooping, and dove fearlessly. Harry's heart was in his mouth as he followed, the angle of his decent far steeper than Teddy's. The blue-haired boy came to a screeching halt and swept in a curve, head swivelling. Harry chuckled as he too pulled up and climbed higher.

"Not so easy when you're the one up here, is it?" he called mockingly. Teddy turned his head to glare and as he did, there was a glint of gold body and silver wings just past his left ear. With a shock of de ja vu, Harry twirled and lost altitude fast, blasting past Teddy in a blur. The younger boy, realising his mistake, spun as well and quickly drew alongside him.

Laughing, they chased the teasing sparkle across the sky until, finally, Harry twisted and snatched the little ball with his fingertips. Panting just a little, he caught his breath, grinning first at the Snitch in his hand, and then raising his hand victoriously to Teddy, who was also catching his breath not far from him. His eyes widened when he saw and he grinned with a loud hoot.

"Yeesss! Go dad! Man, that thing is fast!"

Pulling up with one hand to hover beside Teddy, Harry handed the ball to him, a grin of elation lighting his reddened face that made him look twelve all over again.

"It's not half as fast as it used to be-" he said, heart swelling at the expression of awe that transformed Teddy's features- "But neither am I" these words were murmured in a quieter tone, more to himself than to Teddy.

"Can we go again?"

Harry smiled and gave Teddy's mussed shirt collar a tug, pulling it closer to the boy's cold, flushed skin.

"Sure thing, Ted"

Immediately, Ted opened his fist and watched the Snitch retreat, eyes narrowing as it became smaller in the blue of the sky.

"Alright. Go!" Harry ordered and they took off.

It wasn't long before Teddy made his first catch, filling Harry with a burst of molten sunlight that threatened to throw him off his broom as he clapped and whooped like he was back in the game, Lee Jordan's enthusiastic shout announcing _another _ten points for Gryffindor. As Teddy, his hand shaking as he gasped for air, shaking his fist in victory, turned to face Harry, for a moment he was back there; the smell of grass and leather, the roars and catcalls from below, the piercing blast of Madam Hooch's whistle.

"_Gryffindor; go, go! Gryffindor; go, go! Gryffindor; go, go! Gryffindor; go, go!" _

"Gryffindor; go, go!" he chanted in time with his memories, face split with his grin. Teddy laughed, the sound rebounding up to the sky like a willing sacrifice to the sun. Harry hovered beside him, looking at the game piece clutched in his fingers like he was never going to let it go.

"They've got flesh memories, you know. This one will always remember your touch" he said softly, head cocked to the side. Teddy glanced between the ball and his godfather.

"Really? I didn't know that!" he sounded affronted. The Chosen One chuckled lightly. A cheeky breeze whipped their cloaks.

"Yeah. I nearly swallowed this one in my first game for Gryffindor; which means I have to put it in my mouth for it to recognise me" he told him with a smirk. Teddy snorted.

"Everyone knows that Dad; you were showing off and surfed your broom. Uncle Ron told me all about it"

"Oh I bet he did. C'mere you!"

Teddy yelled and took off as Harry ducked towards him, hand reaching for the back of his neck. They chased each other until Teddy released the Snitch to better handle his broom and Harry did an about-face midair, corkscrewing upwards and grabbing the aging ball before it could make a proper getaway. He turned to find Teddy looking at him, wide-eyed.

"Oh, you _gotta _show me how to do that!"

The hours faded and the lesson turned into another spirited game. Finally, Harry glanced at his watch and blew on his cold fingers. That crisp winter wind was starting to fade but there was still a bite in the air, and clouds gathering to the north. A winter storm was rolling in.

"One more catch, Teddy, then we better head in" Harry called.

"Aw, do we have to?"

"Yeah, mate. Storms coming in and we're going out for dinner tonight, remember?"

Teddy wrinkled his nose, turning the Snitch over in his fingers.

"But Grandma'll start telling me all about how great mum was and how unlucky I am not to have met her and like a million stories that I've already heard" he muttered darkly.

"Teddy..." Harry admonished.

"It's true! I love her and I love my mother and father, but, Dad, it's really annoying when people give me the pity stare because they're dead!"

"Teddy I understand-"

"No you don't-"

"Teddy" Harry cut him off in a think-about-what-you're-about-to-say tone. The young man's face went red and he muttered an apology. They were quiet for a moment, both gathering their thoughts.

"Look, if you keep your head tonight and promise not to tell auntie Hermione, I'll take you out for a storm game, okay? You and me and Ginny, maybe even Uncle Ron"

Teddy looked up, his eyes brilliant in the late noon sun.

"You mean it, Dad?"

Harry rolled his eyes mockingly.

"Of course I mean it. Now release the Snitch and prepare to get your butt kicked!" he ordered playfully, dropping in a free-fall, a few feet below his young charge. Teddy threw the banter back in Harry's face as the Snitch took off, even trying to slam his godfather like he'd seen in matches a thousand times.

"Don't try slamming someone bigger than you. You've gotta cut around them or across them. Otherwise they'll make mincemeat out of you" Harry instructed after he pointedly sent Teddy flying in the opposite direction with a twist of his shoulders.

Teddy nodded and peeled away, climbing across the face of the clouds as they split up in their hunt for the elusive Golden Snitch. Harry gave his glasses a quick rub with his sleeve before returning to his sweep, just in time to look down and see Teddy swoop.

He pulled up to watch the age-old battle between predator and prey with glowing pride. Teddy's decent was controlled and easy. He was sitting a bit far forward on his broom, with one hand stretched ahead, the breath of his fingertips caressing the curve of the ball, but that was okay. It wasn't until he pushed his arm forward, trying to make those last few millimetres between ball and fingers, that Harry's blood ran cold. For at that moment, the old Snitch grabbed onto a sudden burst of speed with great gusto and disappeared. Teddy was off-centre and cart-wheeled off the front of his broom, falling face first towards the ground.

"TEDDY!" Harry roared, dropping like a stone after his godson, knowing even as his stomach dropped and his heart leaped into his mouth, that he wasn't going to be fast enough.

There was a heavy thud as Teddy's body slammed to earth and rolled a few feet down the rise, followed by the wrenching cry of a wounded bird. Harry's feet slammed to the ground running, almost taking his breath away.

"Teddy! _Teddy?_"

The boy was laying on his side, his right arm at an awkward angle to the rest of his body and the side of his face streaked in grass and wet, black dirt. He was badly winded and the choking, gagging noises he made as he sobbed and tried to catch his breath in the same instance stopped Harry's heart. He fell to his knees and gathered the boy up, blood pounding in his veins as he tried to assess the extent of the damage through a blur of his own panic. Teddy had gone Malfoy-esque in his shock; white hair, a horrible white complexion that made the red swelling and black streaks of dirt stand out all the more and pale eyes over-flowing with tears.

"Ow, ow, ow, D-dad, owww..." he sobbed, his broken arm cradled against his chest.

Harry's mind was completely blank as he held Teddy in horror.

_I am never letting him on a broom again! _

"Okay, okay, hang on Teddy, hang on. Let's get you home, okay? It's alright, let's just get you home" Harry finally managed to fire some neurons and stood with Teddy still curled brokenly in his arms. Trying to jostle him as little as possible, Harry's long legs ate up the distance, his voice shaking as he soothed the terrified boy.

He made it up the garden path and kicked open the door. Their welcoming home opened before them and he rushed into the lounge, gently laying Teddy on the couch and sweeping back his hair. With wide, frightened eyes that made him want to just sit there and apologise for ever letting him get hurt, Teddy's cracked little sobs bubbled past his lips.

"It's okay, Teddy, it's fine, it's okay-" he turned and with a trembling hand, the memory of Ginny's first game with the Harpies pounding in his mind, he fired off a Patronus. The Stag stood before him, regal and patient.

"Hermione, come quick, Teddy took a fall and he's hurt. Please hurry!" Harry blabbered. The silvery animal faded as Harry turned away and fell beside the couch, holding Teddy's good hand between both of his. He could not think of a single thing to help; a million things he had ever done to heal and help flashed at the back of his mind, but none of them for long enough to tell him how to take away his godson's pain.

"It's just a broken wrist, or arm, you're going to be just fine. Auntie Hermione on her way, okay Teddy? Everything's going to be fine. Does anywhere else hurt?"

"Oww...my ch-chest...I c-c-can't b-b-breath"

Harry's heart constricted and he squeezed Teddy's hand.

"You're going to be fine" he assured him instinctively, throwing a look over his shoulder.

_Hermione, where are you? _

"...D-dad? I f-f-feel si-sick" Teddy hiccoughed. Harry forced a sickly kind of smile.

"Just the shock, my boy. Just the shock. You're going to be just-"

"Harry? Where is he?"

Hermione's voice cut through his panic like a scythe. He'd been so distracted he hadn't even heard her Apparate in.

"Hermione! Thank Merlin, look, he took a nasty fall, we were out the back you, see, chasing the Snitch and-"

"That'll do Harry. Hi Teddy, taken a bit of a tumble have you? Let's see then...oh, yes, a broken arm and some bruised ribs I'll bet. I know just the thing for this; Harry could you get some chocolate from the kitchen please? Ron, help me get Teddy to his room, please"

Ron stepped past Harry, whose eyes were wide like a cornered animal. He started, having only just noticed Ron's presence, and started forward.

"Wait, it's alright, I've got him-"

Hermione laid her hand on Harry's shoulder and pushed him gently out of the room.

"Something sweet Harry, to keep the shock at bay? We've got him, it's fine" she assured him as Ron waited a few steps up the stairs behind her. Dazed, Harry nodded quickly.

"Yeah, shock, right, I said that. Yeah, alright, chocolate. I'll be right up" he dashed away. Hermione turned and smiled at Ron.

"You could conjure Honeydukes without even thinking twice" Ron accused lightly as they made their way up. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"And Harry knows it. Honestly, Ron, I'll never understand that man. He can duel Death Eaters and think perfectly clearly in the middle of the Department of Mysteries, but Teddy takes a bit of a fall and suddenly he's a bloody mess"

Ron grinned and put Teddy on his bed. The young boy was listening intently.

"Bit of a tosser your dad sometimes" said Ron with a wink.

Teddy found it so amusing that Ron had a) dared to swear in front of Hermione and b) sworn about his own brother-in-law, that he barely noticed as Hermione flicked her wand and straightened the broken bone in his arm.

"Oh leave him alone, Ronald. It could happen to anyone, including you! I dare say if I had seen Teddy take a fall like this, I would have been a right mess to. You're a very brave boy Teddy" she added with a smile. He wiped the streaky tears from his cheeks with the back of his hand and sniffed. Ron kissed the top of Hermione's head.

"You forget I was there when I splinched in the forest. You really don't panic much, 'Mione" he assured her.

"You splinched uncle Ron?"

Hermione smirked at Ron's suddenly red face as with another wave the burning pain in his ribs dulled. Finally, she mended the swelling on his face and Summoned a cloth and water from the bathroom to wash his face.

Harry appeared in the doorway then, clutching a bar of chocolate in one hand.

"You alright Teddy?"

He thought about it for a second.

"If I say yes, do I still get the chocolate?"


	9. Ordinary

**/N: So this piece may come off as a little dull, but I felt the intense need to write a piece that simply showed the most mundane minutes in a family's life; they are the small pieces of a foundation that is taken for granted, that may not always be perfect but are strong enough to hold up the truly incredible moments. **

When Lily Luna Potter had just been born, her brother Albus was a year old, her brother James was two and their adoptive brother Theodore (Teddy) was twelve and had just finished his second year at Hogwarts.

In the first week of the summer holidays, Harry rolled out bed rubbing his eyes and yawning. The bed was cold; Ginny was already up. He blinked heavily and fumbled for his glasses, a routine so ingrained in him that it was second nature. Downstairs he could hear a small child's squealing and groaned softly, stealing a wary look out at the world through the net of his fingers. The master bedroom of the little house in Godric's Hollow was a shrine to a stretched and expanding young family; images of Teddy's first day at school next to one of James' stumbling first steps and a more recent image on his bedside table of the day they welcomed Lily Luna Potter into the world. There were children's drawings and Gryffindor scarves, a broken kite Harry was meant to fix and Ginny's first published article for the _Prophet, _framed next to a tile of three hand prints; Teddy's larger imprint beside James and Albus'.

The kitchen downstairs was, as usual, in a state of mayhem. Ginny, looking tired and worn, soothed the tiny red-haired little girl in the crook of her arm while coaxing two-year-old James to finish his toast.

"James, don't make a mess, buddy. Here, Gin, let me take her" Harry extracted the bundle from his wife's arms.

"Thank-you so much" she snapped, bending to pick up a toy Albus' had thrown from the playpen.

"You don't have to-" Harry began tiredly before James began to wail, having just dropped his last piece of toast.

"Bloody hell, James!" Ginny snarled, scooping it off the floor and glaring at the offending smear of jam on the floor. Albus had begun to set up a din from the playpen.

"It's not his fault Ginny, just take it easy" Harry tried to settle the infuriated woman as he set Lily down in her rocker and went to deal with Albus.

"Take it easy? That's bloody easy for you to say, Harry, what time did you get in last night?"

"I told you I was working late!" he shot back, replacing Albus' pacifier, which was immediately rejected. The little boy was sitting up, hands in the air, demanding to be picked up.

"Has he eaten?"

"Yeah, about half an hour ago. Give him a biscuit…morning Teddy love" she added as footsteps tapped the stairs. A tousle-headed Teddy entered the kitchen, yawning.

"Morning mum"

"Tedda Tedda!" squealed James from his high chair. Teddy ruffled his adoptive brother's head and slid into a chair at the table. He glanced between Harry, who was fishing a biscuit from the jar on the bench, and Ginny who was setting the dishes to wash themselves. The atmosphere was tense and quiet, neither adult touching each other as they made their way around the space.

"What do you want for breakfast?" asked Ginny, her hands on her hips as she looked at Teddy.

"Uhm, I'll just grab toast-"

"Owel owel!" James interrupted, banging his hands on the tray of his high chair. Sure enough, the morning owl was rapping on the window. Harry was stirring his coffee and looked up as Ginny asked him to fetch it.

"It's closer to you" he muttered. His wife glared at him and Teddy jumped up.

"I got it" he said loudly, stilling the argument before it could begin. Harry gave him a thankful nod and sipped his morning brew.

"There's some knuts on the bench there, Ted"

Ginny set about wiping James' face as Teddy's toast popped from the toaster and Harry flicked open the _Prophet. _She sighed heavily when she spotted the smear of biscuit on the floor of the playpen, little Albus sitting in the midst of it, gurgling happily.

"There's a letter there from your Nan, Ted. Says here Evanna Lynch is retiring, Gin" said Harry, prodding the team photo of one of Ginny's former Harpies teammates. She shrugged, performing a _Scourgify_ charm on James' highchair.

"She took that bludger in the Russian game last year-"

"Da da _up!_" James demanded from the floor where Ginny had set him down. Harry put his coffee aside and hoisted the two-year old onto his lap, extracting his plate before the little terror could ditch it.

"Who have they got replacing her then?"

"My guess would be Wright or Watson. How's Andromeda doing?"

Teddy had set aside the letter from his maternal grandmother and was spreading liberal amounts of Luna Lovegood's Dirigible Plum jam on his toast.

"She's got a new cat and the neighbor's dog keeps chasing it up the tree" he rumbled around a full mouth.

"What happened to that other thing she had? That evil looking bloody thing with the patchy fur? And don't talk with your mouth full" admonished Harry.

"Don't scowl Teddy for his manners when you're cursing at the table, Harry" growled Ginny. Harry shot her a look and concentrated on his breakfast and the morning spread, bouncing James on his knee.

"I think its still around-" replied Teddy, after he'd swallowed.

"Now Teddy, are you happy to hang around here today? I have to go into work for a few hours and _you _need to be home early tonight too" she tapped Harry on the ear. He scowled and took a sip of his coffee, maneuvering James' to the other side of his body.

"What for?"

She stuck her hands on her hips, her wand twitching in her right.

"Because, Harry, you haven't been home before ten every night for the last two weeks and it's a Friday!"

"Love, if I don't pick up these extra hours, I'll be working right through the summer. Again" he reminded her through gritted teeth. Teddy kept his head down pointedly until Albus began to wail from the playpen and started everyone into action.

Harry collected the morning's dishes, he and Ginny dancing around the kitchen in a perfectly choreographed twirl, as Teddy entertained the two boys with a plethora of pig snouts and beaks that would have made Nymphadora Lupin laugh madly if she'd ever seen him do it.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry was shrugging into his work robes as he headed out the door. Ginny stood waiting for a bottle to warm and look up as he extracted James from his leg. Their eyes met across the room and he nodded a silent goodbye, turning to head out the front door.

"Harry" her voice was soft, almost a prayer, and he turned.

The truth was, family life wasn't all it had cracked up to be. In his daydreams, when he and Ginny started their family, it was going to be all laughter and sunny days. Of course he understood the realism of it; he'd raised Teddy through the teething years and he wasn't an idiot. Still, this tense exhaustion that had settled like a black fog over he and Ginny hadn't factored into the equation.

They both looked off-balance and defeated standing there, across the room from one another, but it might as well have been a continent.

They were both so tired now, with full-time jobs and four kids. She let her eyes run over that shy curve of his neck that she loved so much and tried to remember the last time he had touched her.

"Harry, what did you forget?" she asked softly, willing the tears rising in her throat desperately away. Suddenly, he was standing beside her, his arms enclosing her and Lily both, and his lips were pressed to her temple sweetly.

"Have a good day, beautiful" he whispered. She caught his chin as he pulled away and smiled crookedly.

"I love you"

"Me too. Bye boys, have a good day"

He waved his family goodbye, allowing himself a chuckle as Teddy was called aside to referee the growing argument between James and Albus.

Ginny, feeling happily soothed, cast another charm over the dishes and checked the temperature of Lily's bottle before checking the clock on the wall. Right on time; she'd get the boys dressed and drop them off at the local crèche, head into work for a couple of hours with Lily in tow, finish there, do the shopping, pick up and the boys, come home and get dinner started. Teddy, being on holidays, would spend the day lazing around his room, or go down to Godric Hollow central and hang out with any number of other Hogwarts boys who lived in and around the sleepy wizarding village.

"Hey, Harry, did you get that profiler in for the Western case?"

Making an uncertain noise, Harry pushed his chair back and flicked through the filing cabinet.

"I did, but I dunno whether I got the file back from Ron…aannndd, as far as I know, it hadn't been approved as evidenc-"

"Potter post for you!"

"Thanks Greg" Harry called over his shoulder, turning back to face his fellow Auror.

"It should hit my desk by this afternoon and if it hasn't, I'll owl you" he told him. The other man nodded and headed out of the office. As Harry turned back to his desk, one of the fluttering Ministry envelopes slid across his desk. He picked it up and flicked it open. Next to him, Sean Edwards, an Auror a year below Harry, watched as his mentor's brow creased.

"Alright, Harry?"

He glanced up at the voice and nodded, folding the envelope back up.

"Yeah, yeah mate, just the wife reminding me of my place"

Sean laughed and flicked the clot of ink off of his quill tip.

"Boy, am I glad I don't have any of that"

Harry stretched and stood, going to see if his brother-in-law had the profile. The frame on the edge of his desk caught his eye and he smiled at the younger man's neivity.

"It's worth it sometimes mate" he said, running his fingertips over the smiling faces of Ginny, Teddy, Albus, James, baby Lily, Hermione, Ron and little Rose, crowded into the frame, grinning hugely.

"Ginny, we need a statement from the coach; can't you just owl her or something?"

Sitting to the side of the _Prophet_'s editor, Ginny bounced baby Lily in the rocker at her feet as she checked over the sports section of next week's issue.

"Penelope, I haven't played for the Harpies in two years. I cannot just call at any time of the day as a journalist and demand a statement, just the same as I will not publish something which Evanna Lynch, an old friend of mine, tells me in private. I'm a journalist not a vulture, so get over it. Did Tom get the photos from the American game?"

"Yes he did. The new one's not as good as you, Ginny" sniped Penelope. Ginny sighed and pushed the papers across the table to her.

"Penelope, my family is my focus at the moment-"

"And six months turns into a year and the next thing I know, I'm looking at your resignation letter" the older woman sneered. Ginny Potter fixed her with a cold stare.

"Keep talking like that and you'll be looking at it a lot sooner than you realize"

There was a shock of bright purple against the evening grey of the sky as Harry slipped through the front garden gates. Teddy was corkscrewing through the air out the back on Harry's Firebolt.

Lily was crying as he pushed open the door and shrugged off his work robes, ruffling a hand through his cold hair as he walked into the chaos that was their kitchen. James must have been out the back; Albus was whining from the playpen and Ginny looked about ready to burst into tears as she juggled Lily and the stew bubbling over on the stove.

With a shot of envy for the likes of Sean Edwards, who could go home after a hard day and collapse on their couch, Harry rolled up his sleeves and dove in with the stupor of a man possessed.

"Love, go sit down. Just a minute, Al, little man, I'll be right there. Go, Gin"

She was hesitating in the doorway, eyeing the stovetop apprehensively. No, Harry wasn't a bad cook, just an accident prone one. He turned the heat down and wished, not for the last time, that Kretcher was still around to help.

Then he gathered cranky young Albus, hoisting him above his head and blowing a loud raspberry under his chin, making his squeal in delight. Glancing at the clock, which read six-fifteen, Harry decided it was time for Teddy and James to come in and headed down the hall to the back door.

Ginny listened to Harry call the older boys back in and rested the back of her head wearily on the headrest of the old rocking chair which Molly had given them when they moved to Godric's Hollow. She cocked one eyebrow to watch Lily, blue eyes closed, as she suckled contentedly at her breast. The warm quiet enveloped them both, just for a moment. It was like a breath of fresh air, a moment of rest in an ongoing marathon; both a good thing and a bad thing, really, because while her tense muscled relaxed, her exhaustion caught up to her, the burn of lactic acid through her legs and feet.

Dinner was, as always, closer in appearance to feeding time at the zoo than a civilized evening meal. James threw a terrible tantrum when Ginny ordered him to eat his greens and upended his bowl onto Teddy's lap, who came out with a word that Ron would cop a bollocking for the next time his sister caught up to him. The affair ended with Teddy being grounded the next day and James sent to the naughty corner.

Ginny gathered Albus for his bath while Teddy and Harry set about washing up.

"Dad, am I really not allowed to go into town tomorrow?" asked Teddy, his bottom lip hovering on the edge of a pout. Harry pushed his glasses up with the heel of his hand and nodded.

"Just do what your mum says, Ted. Trust me when I tell you its easier that way" he winked. The Metamorphmagus smirked.

"You're both really tired all the time" he commented, plucking a plate from midair where it was washing and swiping a tea towel over it. Harry wrung out the cloth he'd been wiping down Albus' armchair with and sighed.

"Yeah. We've just been…busy, you know? Wait till exam study clashes with a couple of intense Quidditch practices. That's about the only other time I've ever felt like this" he tried not to think that there had been another time; in the awful silence when Voldemort finally fell, when he felt the strange kind of tired that had sunken into him now. Teddy wrinkled his nose at the very idea of school and Quidditch coming to heads and handed Harry the plate to put away.

A moment later, Ginny came downstairs with a sweet-smelling Albus in her arms and a yawning James attached to her leg. She watched with a smile as Harry hoisted James up and his little look-alike buried his face under his father's chin.

"Mmm, somebody's ready for bed" she commented, rubbing the little boy's back.

"No wanna bed" he retaliated groggily. Harry laughed and kissed his forehead.

"I think so, little man. Say goodnight to Teddy and I'll read you a story"

James sat back against Harry's arms and folded his arms, an adorable frown of suspicion on his chubby face.

"Babbity Rabbity?"

"Babbity Rabbity" Harry assured him with a smile and raised an eyebrow questioningly at Ginny. She jerked her head at the stairs, telling him to go ahead.

"I want to put some gel on Albus' gums" she said and Harry nodded, agreeing. Getting up to Lily at all hours of the night was bad enough; a teething Albus Severus was not an ingredient for fun. Teddy gave James a quick hug and went back to putting the plates away as his godfather tramped up the stairs. Ginny set Albus on the bench next to Teddy and turned to rifle through one of the cupboards in search of the teething gel. After a moment of fruitless searching she straightened with a soft curse.

"Mum you put it in the fridge" Teddy reminded her. On her knees on the floor, Ginny shot him a suspicious look.

"You knew that all along, didn't you?" she accused him. He turned quickly away to hide his smirk.

"No"

Albus clapped at the smug expression on his big adoptive brother's face. She mussed his hair as she passed him and pried open Albus' lips. He grouched loudly, trying to shut his mouth and turn it aside.

"Albus, come on please, don't be silly"

He made a babbling noise of dissent and Ginny sighed through her nose. If the scene had been a cartoon, a light bulb would have lit above her head.

"Teddy, come here?"

"Why?"

"Just come here"

Suspiciously, the young man went and stood next to his godmother, frowning.

"Open your mouth"

"I'm sorry, wha-glumphf!"

Ginny stuck her gel-smeared finger in Teddy's mouth and spread the clear numbing agent on his teeth.

"See Albus, Teddy doesn't mind" she assured her son with a bright grin. Teddy forced a grimace, careful not to touch the sharp-tasting gel with his tongue.

"Yeah Albus. I don't mind at all. You won't be able to ride a broomstick like mine if you don't do it" he glared at Ginny, who ignored him. Desperate to not be left in the dust by his (currently) blue-haired idol, Albus opened his mouth with a dramatic _ahhhhh. _

With a quick, appreciative smile for Teddy, Ginny gathered Albus back up and headed up the stairs. The second door on the left belonged to the two boys. The nursery was straight across from Harry and Ginny's room and right at the end of the hall was Teddy's room. She gently pushed open the door, listening to Harry tell the usual bedtime story.

"…and the Cackling Stump laughed at Babbity Rabbity. Then he said-oh look, here's mum and Al"  
>"Daddy, Babbity Rabbity didn't say that!" exclaimed James. Harry grinned at Ginny.<p>

"Genius we've got here Gin"

She giggled and sat on the edge of the bed with Albus in her lap.

"Of course he is, he's my son" she replied, mock-indignant. His eyes shone with that sparkle she missed so much and the corners of her sweet lips turned up in that way that he loved. Suddenly, downstairs in her rocker, Lily began to wail. The lights disappeared from their faces and Ginny sighed.

"Dammit" she muttered, going to stand, but Harry stopped her and unfurled his long legs from James' little bed.

"No, I've got her. I think I've had enough of Babbity Rabbity for one night" he winked and handed her the book with the shredded spine; a Weasley family heirloom that one. Then he kissed James, who made a show of wiping it away, and Albus, who just looked at him with Lily Potter's wide, shining eyes and said 'Da!' with a smile. At the door of the boy's room, he cast a look back at them as Ginny settled back with her finger marking the place they had left off.

"Now. Where were we?"

"The Cackling Stump was trickin' Babbity Rabbity into stealing the witch's f'owers" said James promptly, startling a laugh out of everyone. Shaking his head, Harry headed downstairs to rescue Teddy from Lily Luna, and wondered why they even bothered reading that particular story to James Sirius Potter; the boy knew it word-for-word and off by heart.

Summoning a bottle from the fridge, Harry scooped Lily from Teddy's hesitant arms and ruffled his godson's head. He plonked himself heavily onto the couch and put the bottle in Lily's gaping pink mouth.

"I'm gunna go have a shower and go to bed. Is _Qudditch through the Ages _still on your bedside table?" Teddy asked. Harry nodded and glanced up. The boy looked decidedly unhappy, probably because he'd been grounded.

"Hey Ted?"

"Mhm?" he paused in the doorway.

"I'll talk to Gin about letting you out flying tomorrow. I know you didn't mean to"

Teddy's face lit up. He didn't care about not being able to go into town; not really. But being banned from the broomsticks in the shed in the backyard was always a devastating blow. Harry smiled at his bright enthusiasm and felt the blazing glow under his ribcage as the twelve-year-old, already deciding he was too grown-up for hugs from his dad, threw his arms around Harry's neck, mindful of the baby, and gave him a quick squeeze.

"Thanks heaps dad! Night! I love you!" and with these words, he bounded out the door. With a chuckle, Harry looked down at Lily.

"Your big brother's a bit obsessed with that sport, you know Lily" he commented. No sound came from the child but the rhythmic _brmrt brmrt _of suckling. His daughter was so beautiful, it took his breath away sometimes. Gently, he pressed a little kiss to her forehead, but it upset her latch on the bottle's teat and she let him know her displeasure loudly. Settling her again, Harry lent his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes.

Teddy stuck his head in the door of the boy's room on his way back from the shower to discover Ginny had fallen asleep with the two boys only half-awake either side of her. James looked about to wake her when Teddy stepped in and shook his head.

"C'mon, Al, into bed little man" he coaxed. Al made a sound of sleepy rebellion as Teddy dragged his dead-weight body into his arms and settled him into his bed. As he was tucking the blankets around the small body, watching those green eyes droop, Ginny woke suddenly, jerking James who muttered something and then rolled over. She and Teddy shared a smile and he waited in the doorway for her to tuck James in and replace The Tales of Beedle the Bard on the bedside. She lit her wand and Teddy turned out the light.

"Don't they look like little angels?" she murmured softly as they paused in the door. Teddy snorted.

"Yeah, _asleep_" he pointed out wryly. Ginny laughed and gave him a quick hug.

"Night mum. Dad's downstairs with Lily"

"Thanks darling. Sweet dreams"

"You too"

She stifled a yawn as she padded down the stairs and stuck her head into the lounge.

"Harry love-" she cut herself off.

The bottle was limp in his hand, and Lily had long since drifted into contented quiet, her small fists waving impatiently in the air, as though in an attempt to get her dozing father's attention. The family camera was sitting on the sideboard and the moment seemed to have been created for the purpose, a small window in time that was fated. She snapped off the picture a moment before Harry opened his eyes, so the photo included him sitting up and catching sight of her with camera in hand; his lips curved into a gentle smile, his eyes shining behind his glasses.

"Hey" he grunted groggily.

"Hey" Ginny breathed in reply, lowering the camera.

"The boys in bed?"

She nodded, a smile still curving her lips, a warm heat below her breast. He looked down at wide awake Lily and smiled, running a finger over the tiny features of her face, then back up at his wife, still standing in the doorway. Holding out one arm, he jerked his head wordlessly for her to join them. Sliding beside him, Ginny tucked herself into his warm side and let Lily wrap her tiny, grasping fingers around her wedding ring. They chuckled and Harry turned his eyes to her.

"I'm sorry" he said. She shrugged, her eyes on the beautiful creature curled in Harry's arms.

"We knew it wasn't going to be easy Harry" she reminded him gently.

He kissed her temple and leaned his head on hers; entangled together just like that, they watched as Lily Luna Potter drifted off into a soft pink world of dreams.

All was well.


	10. The Event

Harry was groggy and strung out from a thoroughly draining case when what would forever be known as The Event occurred. It was the summer holidays. They were planning a trip to Germany to visit Teddy's grandmother. Teddy and Victore were coming with them, their first overseas outing as an official couple. They were due to leave next week, and Harry had been putting in late nights to wrap up the case before they left.

So it was that he was gathering himself for another day, a Wednesday, mainlining coffee and rubbing his eyes.

Ginny settled the _Prophet _before him and rubbed his shoulders. He caught one of her hands and kissed her fingers thankfully. He felt her smile warming the back of his neck as she kissed the sensitive pulse just behind his ear.

James, grinning with Albus over some joke reserved for teenage boys, was juggling his hot toast as they sat down. Only Lily was missing from the table that morning. Harry shuddered to think of his beautiful young daughter, her eyes alight as she bounced off with her equally as pretty young friend Beth. Ginny had warned him that she and her friend were going to a party with _boys _who had _cars _and had made him promise not to follow them into town to keep an eye on things.

"Really, Harry, she's fifteen. She's going to have boyfriends! I think it's marvellous that she has friends here she can play with on the holidays"

"_Mum! _I'm fifteen! I don't _play _with my friends!" Lily had squealed in mortification. James had smirked and demanded to know the names of the boys. He knew she was interested in a boy from Durmstrung because Rose had told him as a way of stopping him from revealing to Ron that he'd caught her in Scorpios Malfoy's lap right before they boarded the Hogwarts Express home.

Ginny had glared at Harry over their children's heads, ordering him to intervene as Lily and James began to fight. He'd pretended not to see.

"James and Al are her big brothers, Gin! D'ya think _your _brothers wouldn't have had anything to say if you'd started dating boys at fifteen!"

She glared again.

"Harry, _I_ was!" she'd snapped. He'd pretended not to hear.

Suddenly, there was the blast of a horn outside. Ginny gasped in surprise and Harry froze with his coffee cup halfway to his lips.

"What's the Knight Bus doing here?" asked Albus, confused.

Ginny and Harry exchanged looks. He got up and headed for the front door, hearing his wife order the boys to stay in the kitchen as she followed him.

When he got to the door, the Bus was gone, but his daughter; his young, bright-eyed, beautiful, energetic little baby girl, was walking slowly and unsteadily across the lawn. Her arms were wrapped around her person, her head bent so her red hair shielded her face. Her pretty white party dress, the one that fell just a little far above her knees for the liking of the Weasley/Potter/Lupin men, had a dark blackish stain right across the skirt. As she drew closer, Harry realised it was cola.

"Lily!" he cried, taking the stairs in a bound. She looked up.

Mascara streaked her face and her eyes were red-raw. Heart pounding a mile a minute, terror like nothing he ever felt enveloped him as he caught her up and held her tightly. She clutched the front of his robes and began to sob.

She smelt like booze, cigarettes and sweat. It made him gag and flinch, like this creature in his arms wasn't his little girl at all, but some beast of the night stumbled in from the darkness.

"D-d-dadd-yy" she sobbed. He withdrew and caught her face in her hands. Ginny was standing next to him, her arm around her daughter's shoulders.

"Lily, darling girl, Lily, what-"

Ginny might have continued to speak, but Harry heard nothing but the pounding of his own boiling blood in his ears. For there, at the corner of Lily's mouth with the lipstick streaked and faded, with a cut. A bloody split, the sort caused by someone backhanding the face.

"Lily, who hit you?"

His words were cold. They were hard. They were lethal. They were like nothing his children had ever heard emerge from his mouth. The tone rose gooseflesh on Ginny's arms as she looked at him and then at their daughter. Behind his signature glasses, there was no light in his emerald eyes. Only blind fury. His shoulders, stooping just a little now as age crept in, where ramrod straight and trembling.

Lily cried harder. Through her racking tears, Harry discerned what she was saying only because between Lily, Rose, Dominique, Roxanne, Molly the Second and Lucy, he'd become quite good at translating Teenage-Girl-Sobs.

"H-h-he t-tired to k-k-kiss me…I-I-I d-d-didn't want t-to a-a-and B-Beth was wi-wi-with J-Jacob a-a-and-Daddy, I-I-I d-didn't w-want t-to and I r-ran a-away a-and I w-was d-drunk a-a-and-mummy? M-Mummy-"  
>Harry handed her to Ginny, who was now crying as well, with a kiss on the forehead, and then stood facing their front fence, breathing hard, trying to get his temper under control. A flowerpot smashed on their front porch and Albus and James jumped.<p>

"Dad…?" Al ventured hesitatingly.

Harry took a deep breath and turned. His eyes flicked up to the house. Ginny was not within earshot. He returned his gaze to his boys. Albus was torn between fear and anger. James showed no fear at all; just the same blinding fury Harry was feeling.

_He _could do nothing but call the parents and leave this matter to the Magical Law Enforcement officers. After all, he was Head of the Auror Department.

"Find them. Just don't get caught" he said sharply. Both of them flinched and Albus looked incredulous. James' face set hard.

"Dad, you know I'm not gunna go easy"

"No magic" was all Harry would say on it, and then he was gone, following Ginny inside. Albus and James looked at each other. There was a light shining in Albus' eyes.

"Can you believe he just said that?" exclaimed Al excitedly. James shrugged.

"Well it's not like _he _can do it. If it ever got out he had marched into Godric's Hollow and beat some teenager to within an inch of his life, he'd be up before the Wizengamot before he could say Quidditch" he said grimly.

"We should call the others" said Al, serious now. James nodded.

"I'll get Freddy and Hugo. You get Teddy. I'll bet you any money it was Tony Sinclair. He's wanted Lily for ages, the big bastard"

It was, as such, that the Weasley/Potter/Lupin men cornered the three boys from the party whose names Beth had given, under some duress, to Rose when she'd been round earlier. After all, nobody could refuse Rose Weasley for too long; she had inherited her mother's glare, which Ron still swore she'd learned from the Basilisk.

Jacob, the one who'd distracted Beth so Tony could get her alone, and Brian, the one who'd invited Lily and Beth in the first place. They were with another boy, but the men didn't care about him.

"You. Get out of here" James ordered and the boy obeyed, because he knew who James Potter was and nobody refused a direct order from James Potter if they valued their social life. Teddy, his hair and eyes as black as night in his anger, stepped forward as the other boy scrambled away, leaving his friends to their fate.

"Wha' you wan' fag?" snarled Brian, standing with Sinclair to his side.

"You know Lily Potter?" he asked pleasantly. Brian was bluffing something fierce. He was scared out of his mind. It was, after all, five against three. While these wouldn't have been bad odds in normal circumstances, the odds were doubled when it was a band of utterly enraged red-heads. Hugo may have been the youngest, but he was taller than the three of them, with a form strengthened by his Beater position. Fredrick was Fred; big, broad and had his eyes narrowed at them like he was contemplating which of their organs to rip out first. James Potter leaned against the mouth of the alley they'd followed them into, his hair falling across his deadly eyes. Albus stood with his arms folded. For a small young man, anger had a way of making him look exceptionally dangerous.

"Yeah, wha' 'bout 'er? We ain't seen 'er" snarled Brian, wiping his damp hands. The dustbins rattled as the Potter brothers struggled to maintain their cool. The three boys looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"We have-" said Teddy, his tone still frighteningly pleasant and flicked his eyes to the one Albus had said was Tony.

"-Are you Tony Sinclair?"

Tony licked his lips and the other two looked at him. He raised his chin.

"Yeah. Who's askin'?" he blustered.

Teddy moved like quicksilver. On cue, Hugo and Albus rushed Jacob and Fredrick Weasley the Second grabbed Brian and put him down in a chokehold. Backed against the brick wall, trapped between the hard place and the rock that was Teddy Lupin's undeniable rage, Tony was hyperventilating pathetically.

"She's my sister" Teddy whispered.

Tony's eyes flicked to Albus and James, now flanking Teddy. Hugo had Jacob on his knees, one arm cruelly twisted behind his back and Brian's face was going blue.

"Y-y-you're not her brother" he stammered anxiously. Teddy smiled coldly.

"You're not in a position to be arguing-" he grabbed a handful of Tony's hair and thumped the back of his head against the wall. The boy's whimpered intensified.

"-N-n-no! No! N-no! P-p-p-please d-d-don't k-kill me! I-I know who you are! Please don't kill me or bite me or nothing, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I won't-"

"Shut _up! _You're fucking pathetic" Teddy stepped back in disgust as the tears and snot began to dribble down Tony's face. James punched Tony in the stomach _hard _and then slammed an arm across the other boy's throat as he tried to double over. His face was so close to the Tony's, he could _taste _his absolute fear. It made him feel sick, right up until the moment he thought about Lily's silent, pale form curled up on the couch with her head on his mum's knee.

"_This _is what's gunna happen now, you perverted, fucking, _jerk_! You're gunna turn yourself in. You're gunna tell the MLO's _exactly _what you did to my sister and if even _think_ about lying about _any damn thing _I'll kill you. I'll _fucking-" _he shoved his weight forward so Tony's windpipe was crushed.

"-_kill you! _Trust me on that. And then you're gunna _get down on your fucking knees _and _beg. _Apologize to my little sister. Got it?"

Tony couldn't say anything. His face was going steadily purple as he choked unintelligently on his breath. The image of Lily on the couch was branded into James' head and he couldn't get rid of it as the stars began to dance in front of Tony's eyes. He watched, coldly, as the life began to fade from his face and the skin of his arm opened bloodily under his clawing to get free.

"James…? James, that's enough…_James!_" Teddy finally shouted. The other boy stepped back and Tony dropped, boneless, to the ground, holding his throat and gasping, coughing and choking on the sudden rush of life-giving air. Swallowing the blatant urge to kick him in the face, James turned and began to walk away. Hugo let go of Brian and Fred shoved Jacob forward so he landed on the gravel road, face first.

"James!"

Tony had leaped to his feet, his wand appearing from his pocket, and Fred gave a warning cry.

"_Expelliarmus!" _

Teddy remembered the first time he'd ever successfully performed that spell. His DADA teacher had smiled, nodded and said; 'Potter's boy through and through, this one' before moving on to the next student. It had been, without a doubt his proudest moment. His second was the first time he felt the Snitch's fluttering smoothness against his palm and looking up and seeing Harry whooping in the sky beside him, celebrating his godson's victory over the round ball.

"Dumb move" he said, lowering his wand.

The next instant, Tony was writhing on the ground and the entire company of boys winced in sympathy. Albus put his foot back on the ground, tossed Tony's wand in a nearby dumpster and looked down at him with a sneer.

"Don't 'spose you'll facing forcin' yourself on girls when they all know you've got no balls" he snapped, stepping pointedly over the pathetic remains of Tony Sinclair and going to stand beside James, who clapped him on the shoulder.

"Al, my brother, that was cruel…I should buy you a drink!"

"No you bloody well won't! Mum finds out I gave you a fake ID, there won't be enough left of me to bury!" yelped Teddy.

That night, Teddy was looking at the roof, his toes peeking over the edge of the couch that was an inch too short for him now.

"Teddy"

He sat up.

"Hi Dad"

Harry sat heavily on the rocking chair and thought of all the times he'd rocked his baby daughter to sleep here.

"Thank-you" he said softly into the dim room. Teddy, his hands clasped loosely between his knees, looked down.

"You'd think you'd seen enough violence" he said quietly. The shadow of Harry's mouth twisted in the grey darkness.

"You'd think, yeah. There's no telling what you'll do for your kids, Ted"

They were silent for a moment.

"I'm going to ask her to marry me" Teddy abruptly. Harry smiled.

"I should sell tickets"

Teddy gave him a confused look and the smile broadened to a grin.

"You have to tell Molly"

Laughing under his breath, Teddy winced comically.

"I didn't even think about that…I'd like you to be my best man"

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I'm a bit old for all that, aren't I?"

Teddy snorted and Harry conceded with an inclined head.

"Thank you" he said again.


	11. Up In Smoke

**A/N : This chapter is for Fiito who asked for a 'Harry discovers that Teddy smokes' chapter way back at 'Acceptance'  
>So here it is, terribly sorry about the wait. <strong>

At fourteen years old, his forth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Theodore Lupin smoked his first cigarette.

Leaning against the stands after a Quidditch match with his younger cousin Fred Weasley the Second and a gang of older boys, Teddy felt bullet proof. He was still aching from a confrontation with a bludger that ended badly for him, but somehow it all seemed to fade away because this was Patrick-bloody-Jordan they were talking about; he was, undoubtedly the coolest guy Ted knew. Dark-skinned, dark-eyed, a mischievous smirk constantly on his face; he was always the life of the party, Quidditch captain and Prefect. He'd invited Teddy and Fred to come and hang out with him and his friends as Teddy limped out of the showers that afternoon.

"So you're Harry Potter's son then, huh?" one of them asked, eyeing Teddy carefully. Trying his best to act nonchalant, Teddy shrugged.

"His godson, anyway. He pretty much raised me"

"Wicked. My old man always goes on about 'im. He fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, you know" another one bragged. From off to one side, Godric Wood snorted. Teddy swallowed when the older boy winked at him, feeling like a mortal who had suddenly landed on Olympus.

"So'd everyone's 'rents worth a damn, mate" Godric Wood drawled, sounding more American than he normally did. The sixteen-year-old son of Oliver Wood, who had played for an American Quidditch team and had only recently moved back to England, had been shocked to find that even all these generations later, there were still those who remembered his father's Captaincy of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. A tall and lean Chaser, Godric was elegant and handsome and wore rebellion like a very sexy second skin. He was the one every bloke there would kill to be and every bird would kill to bed.

"Here, wanna fag Teddy?" he asked, catching the younger boy's eye, retrieving a pack from the inside pocket of his robes. Everyone looked at him strangely until he remembered the word had different connotations in this part of the world.

"Oh. Ah, sorry, a smoke. Cigarette" he amended, looking faintly embarrassed. The older boys took the piss out of his Americanisms while he passed the pack around. Not wanting to be left out, Teddy took one and passed the pack to Fred, who hesitated before taking one as well and then passing it back to Godric.

Holding his breath at the first intake of the ghastly grey smoke, Teddy managed to get through the whole stick even though Patrick Jordan and his friends teased him mercilessly for the sickly pallor of his features. Fred had such a coughing fit he gave his half-smoked cigarette up to one of the others and swore he'd never do it again.

He was true to his word, but even though Teddy threw up back at the Gryffindor dormitories, when Godric offered him a smoke again after Hufflepuff went down to an agonising margin against Slytherin the next week, he took it and spent the hour puffing away with the older boys.

At sixteen years old, Teddy was home for Christmas when Harry smelt cigarette smoke on him for the first time and didn't comment. With narrowed green eyes, Harry watched his godson help his adoptive mother clear up dinner while the younger children squealed that it was _just four days till Christmas, daddy! _

Ginny, however, was recovering from a cold and didn't smell a thing. So when Teddy pleaded off a second round of Wizard's Chess and snuck out the back, Harry handed the burden of referee to Ginny and followed him out.

Stepping silently onto the creaky back porch, Harry scanned the darkness of the backyard which led out to the fields where Teddy had broken his arm all those years ago. At first he only saw Teddy's silhouette, a black shape against the dark grey night, gilded in silver by the rising moon, but then he saw the flare of a bloody red dot. It was the laser target of a snipers scope, illuminating the young man's features and casting them in a bloody flood.

He bit his lip, hard, and wondered what to do. His godson was sixteen, so really he was old enough to making these sorts of decisions himself.

**Life-altering, dangerous, hazardous-to-his-health, **_**stupid **_**decisions the consequences of which would follow him like a Grim right through the rest of his days **whispered the part of his brain who still looked at him and saw the terrified little boy he'd dropped off on his first day of school. For a long moment, watching the darker column that was Teddy shift his feet and raise the crimson fire to his lips again, Harry debated marching down there, snatching it out of his hand and grounding him for a month. He wondered what his father, what James Potter the first, would have done if he'd ever caught Harry smoking. He'd never smoked. None of his friends had and he'd always been too busy duelling Malfoy, saving the Wizarding World or finishing Potions essays to much in the way of normal rebellion. No, when Harry broke the rules, he broke rules like 'The third floor corridor is forbidden because of the giant, vicious three-headed dog guarding a priceless magical artefact' not 'smoking is bad for your health'

In the end, he slipped back into the house and left Teddy to finish smoking his cancer stick, unobserved. When he came back into the longue, he seemed utterly unchanged. Harry didn't know what he was expected; for him to suddenly have black bangs and a leather jacket? Who knew? He was out of his depth and he knew it. It was a feeling he was uncannily familiar with, however, and so in his own way he began to tread water.

"How's you allowance carrying you through, Ted?" he'd slid it casually into conversation after checking the account he and Andromeda had set up when Teddy turned eleven and headed off to Hogwarts.

"It's alright. But hey, you wanna chuck me a bonus, I'm all for it" he'd laughed. Harry smiled and shook his head.

"Mr Port passed away last week" he told Ginny over Sunday breakfast one day. She'd looked up over Albus' eggs.

"Who?"

"Fellow from the Magical Law Enforcement Office. Lung cancer" Harry replied. She extracted the sugar from James before he put another teaspoon on his cereal.

"How old was he?"

"Forty. I think-" Harry's gaze slid to Teddy, who was scoffing toast and listening over the edge of the _Quibbler. _Ginny noted it, frowned, but didn't comment.

"-He's smoked since he was sixteen. Terrible business" he finished slowly. Teddy didn't see his pointed look, and returned to his toast as if nothing happened.

"He probably thinks he's bulletproof. You know how it is at that age; nothing can hurt you. He prob'ly reckons cancer'll turn tail and run from his perfectly gelled bloody hair" Lee Jordan and George had counselled Harry over drinks one night. They, after all, had sons around Teddy's age. Harry had nodded as if he really did know.

But he didn't. He'd felt that invincible feeling that Lee spoke of only a few times in his life. Once, holding the Snitch in his hand while the Lions roared for the son of James Potter. Secondly, when he tore across the surface of the water on Buckbeak's back, the wind blowing through him. Thirdly, when Ginny kissed him in the Gryffindor Common room. Another when he'd taken the Felix Felicis, but even then there had been the black feeling in the back of his mind, of Voldemort's consciousness lying like a cougar ready to pounce. They'd been fleeting and precious. He couldn't contemplate a time when he'd ever felt safe enough to do something for the hell of it.

They were sitting out the back cleaning the family's ensemble of brooms when Harry broached the subject again. His prized Firebolt lay across his lap, gleaming, and Teddy concentrated on James' Comet.

He almost spoke a few times, and then closed his mouth again. He couldn't find the words. Finally, Teddy took pity on his struggling godfather and looked up.

"Dad, spit it out! What's wrong?"

A pause.

"Do you smoke?"

Teddy blinked, opened his mouth, and then closed it and leaned back against the back door, staring at Harry.

"Why?"

Harry couldn't meet his eyes. He hadn't denied it. He hadn't even bothered.

"I don't think you should, Teddy. It-well, not to succumb to the cliché, but it'll kill you slowly"

Teddy snorted and bent his head to a nonexistent scratch on the Comet's surface.

"Nah, Dad, don't worry about it, yeah?"

"It's my job to worry, Teddy" Harry teased, still not convinced. They worked in quiet for a few moments longer.

"Just to be clear-"

"Harry, seriously, I don't smoke, okay?"

Harry nodded, relieved and his shoulders relaxed as he returned to contemplating the broom across his knees.

"James is gunna be a real all-round threat, inne?" Teddy commented, changing the subject. Harry beamed with pride, suitably distracted.

Watching the toxic blur dance in clouds from his mouth, Teddy closed his eyes and enjoyed the heat of the smoke burning his mouth and throat, the cool night air against his skin, the sound just behind him of James and Albus and Lily arguing with Ginny.

Teddy froze when he heard the unmistakeable sound of somebody stepping off the porch and swung back to the house. Harry's shadow stepped across the garden to meet him.

"Theodore"

Teddy winced, looking down at the cigarette still gracefully caught between his middle and forefingers. It's evil red eye winked back at him. He remembered one other time in his entire life up until this moment that Harry had called him by his hated given name. He'd been nine and taken the Firebolt without permission. Harry had nearly throttled him.

Except this time, it felt worse.

The time he'd taken the Firebolt, Harry had been _furious. _He'd ranted and raved and stormed about and threatened a years worth of grounding, but with some gentle (and not so gentle) persuasion from Ginny, settled on a month.

This time, looking steadily at him with his hands in his pockets and his brow knitted, there was no real anger in Harry's tone. Just a cool, resigned breed of disappointment. He gestured to the cig.

"You lied to me" he said. Teddy swallowed and dropped the smoke like it was burning him, grinding it into the dirt. Without the rush of red light across their features, it was suddenly very black and cold.

"I…I'm sorry, dad" he said, lamely. Harry shrugged.

"It's your life, son" he replied, not a trace of _anything _in his tone. Teddy swallowed, wishing he could see more of the man's features than his glasses, reflecting the moonlight and obstructing his eyes, and the flat shadow of his mouth.

"I-I know, but-"

"If you want to make it up to me, quit. Other than that, I've got nothing to say" Harry said simply, shrugging in a way that was so much like Teddy it shocked the younger boy. He remembered Victore saying something about children developing their parent's mannerisms. He wasn't really too sure. He'd been too busy watching her brand new tongue ring glint in the sun and later berating himself for thinking something like that about a girl who had been his best friend as a kid.

They were silent, a quiet that sat over them like a brick wall, and Teddy kicked at a clod of earth.

"I kinda wish you'd yell or something" he muttered awkwardly, trying to joke, thinking about the Firebolt again. Harry blew on his cold fingers.

"Don't tempt me" he snapped, a fraction of the anger cruising under the surface like a predator lashing out. Teddy flinched and Harry sighed.

"What I mean is; I'd really like to yell, Ted. I'd like to shout at you and stomp around and make you hand over those cigarettes and sit you down at the kitchen table with Ginny and make Hermione tell you every disgusting detail of what's going to happen to your body now you're smoking and I'd really, _really _like to shake you until your head falls off…but…I dunno. Just seems kind of pointless now, doesn't it? I mean, how long have you been…how long?"

Teddy rubbed the back of his neck, feeling even worse.

"Forth year" he mumbled. Harry made sound of frustration under his breath.

"How did I not notice until now?" he exploded, his anger turning inwards, as he was prone to do with it.

"Dad, c'mon, it's not your fault. I…I mean, I don't do it…_a lot. _Just, you know, more of a social thing than anyfing…hanging out with my mates round the back of the Quidditch stands 'aving a blow-" his English steadily deteriorated in his state of distress.

"-But I started gettin' cravings an' that sort of shite so I was cuttin' right back"

"You have _cravings_?" exclaimed Harry. Teddy flinched again and watched uneasily as his godfather ran a hand over his retreating hairline.

"Bloody hell, Ted, why didn't you say something? I would have helped"

Teddy chewed his lip.

"Helped?"

"There's patches and that sort of thing, you bloody idiot. To kick the habit" Harry pointed out. Teddy suddenly raised an eyebrow.

"Hang on. How long have you known for?"

"Start of the holidays"

Teddy thought about that and a thought occurred to him.

"There is no Mr Port from the MLEO, is there?"

Harry laughed out loud for the first time since he'd smelt cigarette smoke wafting from his godson's clothing.

"No. No, there's no Mr Port"

Teddy laughed along with him.

"Jeez, Dad, that scared the hell out of me!"

Harry gave him a teasing push.

"Yeah, well, it was supposed to. Ya git!"

Teddy's teeth flashed brilliantly in the darkness then faded. He took the pack from his pocket, making Harry's breath catch like it was a bomb instead, and turned it over in his hand.

"D'ya ever smoke, Harry?" he asked. Harry thought about the conversation he'd had with Lee and George.

"No-" he confessed.

"-I was always a little more concerned with…other forms of danger"

After a moment of contemplation, Harry's eyes widened when Teddy suddenly offered the pack to him, flat in the palm of his hand. There was something in the gesture that was so trusting and innocent it made Harry's heart pound a little slower, just to take it in. He looked up and peered through the darkness to find Teddy's hazel eyes looking steadily back at him.

"Okay" he said out loud and took the packet. He read the brand name and breathed out slowly.

"What?" Teddy enquired. His godfather sounded oddly relieved. In reply, he shook the half-empty pack.

"I'm just grateful these are the only sort of drug you're addicted to. This conversation could be a whole lot more serious otherwise" he said grimly and Teddy shuddered at the thought.

"Christ, no. Never. I'm not that stupid"

Harry shrugged.

"I would have thought you weren't stupid enough to smoke, Ted. You know what they say about saying never…just…we'll sort this, Teddy, alright? But…-" the coldness from moments ago iced the edges of Harry's voice.

"-You ever lie to me again, I swear to Merlin, Godric and the Founders that I will tell your mothers. And your grandmothers. And your aunts. And I will sell tickets and volunteer happily to clean up the mess"

Teddy didn't need to be told twice!


End file.
